Material Days
by Epsilon Zeta
Summary: The case of the Silver Cross Bible takes a different turn as Yuuno Scrya is brought in. But along the way, he stumbles upon some unusual women who look like... the Aces? A Materials centric fic co-written with Nanya.
1. Those Wacky Materials

September 1 MC 0080. A peaceful quiet afternoon in the Infinite Library which was quickly shattered by a flat question of disbelief.

"You want me to… what?"

Previously, a certain Yuuno Scrya had been going over the syllabus that he created for the archaeological courses that he would be teaching at the local university. That is… until he received Chrono's call.

"Well, I know it's a bit sudden but I only just got word of this myself and-"

"Chrono, I'm supposed to start teaching tomorrow!"

"Don't worry about that. We got your students covered for the first week," said the image of the Admiral from the other side.

"But-"

"Yuuno, we really need your expertise on this one." Chrono was now sporting a much more serious look. "I would much rather discuss it in private so can I swing by your office in an hour?"

The blonde male merely shrugged. "My door's wide open."

**

* * *

**

"So what's all this commotion all of a sudden?" asked the Librarian as Arf set down some coffee cups for the two men and left the office to go back to her duties, leaving the two men alone.

"It was something that happened on a routine planet survey mission just a week ago on an uninhabited world. The surveyors had found some odd looking ancient scriptures during their explorations." Chrono took a moment to pull out a photograph that he received and pushed it over to Yuuno, who took one look at what was on it before gasping.

"Is this…Thuringian? I never thought I would see evidence that proves this Ancient Belkan dialect exists!" The photographs composed of various carvings found in a cave along with writings in an ancient language

"And the interesting part is that it came along with an illustration that caught my interest." Another photograph was tossed on the table, this time with a carving of a particular cross. "It's the exact same illustration seen on the Silver Cross Bible, one of our newest Lost Logia cases."

"I see. You think that there's a clue on how to crack that case in those caves?"

"Precisely. I tried checking this over with Lutecia but unfortunately, she didn't know how to decipher this dialect. I'm hoping you may have better success."

Yuuno frowned. "Hm… the syntax is one of the larger difficulties in properly translating this. Did you manage to take photos of all the cave writings?"

Chrono shook his head. "No. To tell you the truth, the investigation team is trying to keep this as discreet as possible which is why I asked for a face to face meeting and limited the photographs to a small amount. We recently sent in a secret security patrol to guard the site for your examination later."

"So alpha level security parameters? That means I'll be flying alone under the guise of a normal business trip…" The Librarian was quite familiar with those due to the number of Lost Logia investigations he had a hand in. "How soon do you want me to get there and begin working?"

"As soon as possible. I've gotten a crew to perform maintenance on your personal ship and stock it with supplies to last you the round trip. I've also issued orders to expedite your flight plan authorization. Here are the planet's coordinates," said Chrono as he handed Yuuno another slip who quickly ran some math in his head.

"Just over a week's trip? That means my students are going to miss two weeks worth of lectures!"

"I don't think they would mind," said the Admiral with a shrug.

"… ah, right… the student evaluations for professors…" It was one of the things about the university that got under his skin. The students all give him high marks for knowledge, a reasonable course work load and ability to communicate but a good portion of them kept commenting on how bland and forgettable he was. "Alright… I'll do it."

* * *

The trip had been uneventful although there had been a little mishap earlier when the Mid-Childa control station crew had to verify his ID and apologized for forgetting him already. It somewhat irked the Librarian seeing how he's been head of his branch since he was nine years old. Then again, everybody probably focused on the most famous personnel of the TSAB like Nanoha, Fate and Hayate. Hell, even Chrono's fairly famous-

'No, don't think of such thoughts… focus on the task at hand.' After setting the ship into standard orbit over the planet, Yuuno transported down and found himself by the sights and sounds of battle and death close to the rendez-vous area on the planet.

'... just what happened here?' He could hear explosions in the distance. His sense of smell was nearly overwhelmed by the scent of blood from the dead TSAB security party that had been stationed here to quietly guard the site. Body parts were scattered in different areas. A leg here... a head there...

Yuuno had to fight the urge to throw up and started to approach any intact bodies to check for life signs. Before he could get to the first one, his eyes caught sight of someone crashing down heavily from the sky. He immediately headed in that direction and was just in time to see the person collide with the ground, causing dust to fly everywhere. Making his way over to the landing zone, he began to prepare a healing spell. "Don't move! I got... you...?"

Lying just before him was a female, probably in her early twenties, with long, light blue hair tied up in twin pigtails. Her damaged barrier jacket bore a startling resemblance to Fate's standard battle attire except this young woman had a blue cloak and skirt. Her device lay on the ground, shrunk to its normal form which was shaped in a similar fashion to Bardiche but with a blue gem. "Ahhhhh...! Owieowieowie!" As she struggled to rise, some of the blood from her forehead trickled over and narrowly missed going into her red eyes.

He shook his head to focus on his healing spell rather than think about more questions regarding Fate's mystery twin. "Hold still and let me heal you." He began to concentrate on closing the cut on her forehead.

"Eh…?" As the pain faded away, the blue haired woman looked at Yuuno and gave a little yelp in surprise. "Ah!"

"Whoa!" He backed off, not wanting to startle the Fate replica any further. Thankfully, the fear had dissipated and was replaced with curiosity instead.

"Jiiiiiiiiiiiiii~"

He was starting to get a bit uncomfortable with the staring. "… um…"

Before he could get a chance to speak, that was when the blue haired woman straightened up. "You look familiar… but I'll play Guess Who with you later!" She reached down for her device. "Vulnificus!"

"**Yes, ma'am."**

The device flew right into the young woman's hands, instantly transforming into a heavy axe staff similar to Bardiche, leaving Yuuno with only more questions. As soon as she was ready, she took off in the air towards the battle. This time, Yuuno wouldn't be left behind and shifted into his own brown and green barrier jacket. Aside from it expanding to accommodate his growth and a pair of brown trousers to replace the shorts, it was still the same old design he used in his youth.

But by the time his barrier jacket was in place, the Fate look-alike already had a huge distance between them. He tried to pursue her as long as he could but it didn't take him too long for him to lose track of her visually as her form disappeared into the thick clouds. He would have tried calling out to her telepathically but he didn't even get her name. 'Great... now how am I supposed to get to the bottom of all this?'

"MOVE, YOU PEASANT!"

The sudden call from another female voice startled Yuuno out of his thoughts and allowed him enough time to get out of the way of a figure that barely managed to regain control of her flight. The librarian took a moment to let out a small sigh of relief. 'That was close...!'

"... that foolish servant girl... what was she thinking just tossing me out of the fight when I had that mongrel at my mercy?"

Wait a second... her dialect and tone sounded eerily familiar to his ears. Yuuno slowly turned towards the new arrival and could only utter one word under his breath. "Hayate?"

Oh, she looked very similar to Hayate Yagami alright. The hairstyle and accessory looked the same along with the wings and barrier jacket setup. But that was as far as similarities went. Her hair colour was mostly silver with hints of darker gray hair near the end of the loosely hanging bangs and her green eyes... were somewhat off, which set off a few alarm bells in his head. The barrier jacket's colours were predominantly dark grey rather than white and there was no sign of her hat or staff although her Tome was active and floating by her side.

'Did... did she unison with a different device or something?' It seemed plausible but he had to be sure. He slowly approached the girl but didn't get too far as she snapped her head towards his direction. It was unnerving... those green eyes of hers that simply stared at his being as if judging him.

"What is it?"

Yuuno took a moment to calm down before speaking. "Hayate, what are you doing here? Do you know what's happen-" He suddenly stopped talking the moment he received a rather hostile look from the other person.

"What did you call me?" asked the girl in a cold tone.

"H-Hayate?" He was forced to back off as soon as she got up close in his personal space.

"I do not know that name but for some reason, that name makes my blood boil. If you wish to keep your tongue, you will not address me by that name again! Are we clear?"

"Then what should I call you?"

She backed off and struck a rather regal pose. "I am the Lord of Darkness, Material-D. Burn that name into your memory, peasant!"

'M-Material... D? What type of name is that? That name sounds...' Pieces started falling together in Yuuno's head. His silence was noticed by Material-D, who merely smiled in pride at how she had managed to strike a sense of awe in front of this peasant.

"Ara... it seems that you have been entranced by my majestic name? Of course, you are free to call me 'Your Majesty'."

He blinked in surprise, causing his thinking process to be halted for a moment. "Huh? No, I... er..." As he stammered, he noticed her previously proud smile slipping, a sure fire sign that she was starting to get annoyed. This was getting bad.

Fortunately for him, it seemed that her focus was elsewhere. She wasn't even looking at him anymore but rather in the direction of battle. "... just what are you doing, Material-S?" Without wasting a moment, she got into position, turning her back to Yuuno. Her Tome opened and flipped to a certain page before glowing and resonating with Material-D, causing a Belkan Triangle to appear in front of her. The funny part was that there was a secondary crest overlapping with the triangle, bearing a strong resemblance to a rose entrapped within a circle.

Yuuno didn't really pay close detail to the circle as his concentration was elsewhere. Particularly, the most logical explanation regarding Material-D and the Fate lookalike. 'There's no mistaking it... someone else had run their own version of Project F. Obviously not perfect since there are glaring differences in their physical appearances. And their memories aren't even transferred... perhaps renegade clones?'

"And here we... go!" The Triangle symbol began spinning rapidly as the rose crest glowed. The end result was a gigantic vacuum effect which forced Yuuno to keep his levitation stable.

'So far, I've seen replicas of Hayate and Fate. Does this mean that there's...?'

It didn't take long for him to get his answer as the vacuum spell worked its magic and sucked out another female individual, who had been caught in a bind spell, from the fight ahead that was still obscured by the thick clouds. As soon as Material-D cancelled the spell, the young woman took control of her speed and took a few moments to break free of the binds. "My thanks, Material-D."

"... Nanoha..." She was just as beautiful as the real one although her brown hair wasn't as long. In fact, it only just stretched just past her shoulders. Her blue eyes also carried the same 'off' look as the eyes he had seen on the Hayate and Fate replicas. In her grip was her trusty device, shaped like Raising Heart but coloured differently as a red staff with a blue gem.

"How many times have I told you to call me 'Your Majesty'?" huffed Material-D as she glared at the other woman, dressed in a black and crimson barrier jacket designed similarly to the old white and blue barrier jacket Nanoha wore in the past. "And how did you get caught so easily in a bind spell?"

"... it was my error. An error I will not repeat against this enemy again." Material-S then noticed the third member of the party just hovering there. "Who is he?"

"Just a peasant... although he seems to know you," noted the Hayate replica upon seeing the look in Yuuno's eyes. "Are you two acquainted?"

There was a slow pause before the Nanoha replica replied. "No."

Honestly, he was prepared for her to say it since obviously, she wouldn't share any memories with the original Nanoha. But to hear her declare that she doesn't know him at all in such a cold tone, it did sting at his heart little bit.

"... but..."

Both Material-D and Yuuno blinked in surprise at the sudden change in their companion's voice.

"... for some reason, I have this feeling. That I can trust this man with my back... correction..." She looked directly into his green eyes. "... I can trust him with my life."

"... that's it. Once we get out of this mess, I'm going to double check if this guy's enchanted you-" Material-D was cut off as a lightning bolt zipped past them and circled around just in time for it to change to the Fate lookalike and glomp Material-S while bawling like a baby.

"Seikou-chan! Yami-chan! Why did you two leave me alone like that? It's no fun playing by myself!"

"You stupid Material-L!" snapped Material-D. "If you're here, then they can use the time to-"

She couldn't get out anything else as a melodic female tone interrupted her. "Oh, we wouldn't dream of going through the Reaction process yet! Not until we get to know each other a little better!"

'Reaction?' Right now, every instinct of Yuuno was on high alert as another young woman emerged from the clouds, dressed in a long black garment which covered her entire body except for her arms and most of her legs. Her long dark hair was tied in a single ponytail. A pair of long black gloves covered her hands and most of her lower arms except for her shoulders, with the left one bearing a distinct indigo blue wing tattoo. Underneath her right arm was a book, most likely her device.

The Hayate replica snarled at the other woman who just came out. "You..."

"After all... we didn't expect to find such interesting creatures when we went on our little slaughterfest earlier!" exclaimed the woman with a happy smile. "Isn't that right... partner?"

A beat...

... a click of a rifle...

... and two words.

**"Divide Zero."**

'It was them who...?' Yuuno had no time to think and quickly threw up a barrier to block the sudden attack that came out of nowhere. However, the sheer power that was behind that blast forced the Librarian to maintain heavy concentration just to ensure the defensive field wouldn't be broken. 'That spell back there... it's just as strong as Nanoha's Starlight Breaker but the casting speed isn't as long!' The effect of the attack spell caused some of the clouds to part, showing their male attacker wielding a gunblade device and dressed in a biker outfit. Magic circles surrounded his device which emitted a powerful aura of light to obscure his face although his short brown hair could be seen.

"Would you stop bawling already, Material-L? We have to strike now while we have a chance!" snapped Material-D.

"But you'll just leave me alone again!" whined the Fate replica.

"Rai-chan, we have a battle to fight," said Material-S softly. "I promise that I will be fighting by your side."

In an instant, the tears vanished and Material-L had a happy little look on her face. "Kay!" After releasing her friend and activating Vulnificus again, she spun it around a few times while singing a little song to herself. "Now is fighty time, fighty time! Blood, blood... **BLOOD!**"

There was a lot of emphasis put on that last word as her childish look instantly became malevolent while her magical aura erupted. To see such a sudden change in attitude startled Yuuno so much that the barrier wavered for just a moment and allowed the attacking spell to partially get through and graze his right side, leaving a rather nasty burn. "Guh!"

"Ooh... that'll probably leave a nasty scar," commented the black-clad female hovering ahead of them.

"...!" Even though she didn't say a word, the alarmed look on the face of Material-S was enough to spur Material-L into action. Transforming into into a lightning bolt and tackling the male Divider Wielder, it allowed the attack to stop and prevent any further danger to Yuuno's being. Now that he had a breather, he let go of the shield and started a healing spell on his injured side while he caught his breath.

Meanwhile, the Nanoha replica had summoned her own magic circle beneath her feet which was none other than the standard Mid-Childan circle but with mysterious spikes that protruded around the entire circle. "Fly... Phantasmic Fangs!" The spikes then took on a life of their own as they peeled themselves off the circle before transforming into blue swords. They all flew towards the other woman, who summoned her shield thanks to the Tome she carried. However, the forceful impact of the swords against her own barrier drove her back into the thick clouds. Taking a moment to breathe, Material-S turned to address her fellow replica. "We need to get out of here."

"Excuse me? Are you out of your mind?" screeched Material-D.

"As we are now, we cannot defeat the enemy," stated Material-S in her calm tone.

The other woman wasn't too happy to hear that. "Just what is it that they have that's preventing us from beating them down like the mongrels they are?"

"My attack spells haven't had as much effect on my opponent," recalled the Nanoha replica. "Any injuries he receives are healed quickly, most likely due to some self-healing factor. We need to move to another world to recover fully. Are you able to cast another teleportation spell?"

"There's one problem with that," said Material-D in a fake sweet tone before going back to her screeching. "YOU BUNGLED UP THE DESTINATION EQUATION IN THE FIRST PLACE DURING THE LAST TELEPORTATION! How am I supposed to properly use Dimensional Transfer if I don't have the departure variables?"

"Wait," rasped Yuuno, catching the attention of the two women. "I have a vessel in orbit. We can transport... there..."

"You... have a ship?" asked the Hayate replica in disbelief. It looks like she would have to re-evaluate this peon's worth.

"Just give me some time to prepare the transportation spell and make sure everyone's here before I cast it." He stopped his healing spell, which didn't really help too much against that burn of his, and started concentrating on the transportation spell.

"Understood." As the group now had a plan, Material-D began to administer whatever healing magic she could to Yuuno's side as he focused on the transporation spell while Material-S summoned her magic circle again, once again with the spikes. This time, as the multiple spikes peeled themselves off, they changed to green daggers instead of regular blue swords. "Phantasmic Fangs, Version Two... Tangle Bits!"

The green daggers flew off towards the battle while the Nanoha replica readied her device and had it load a new cartridge. "Maximum power..."

**"Warning. Use of an S-ranked bombardment spell will leave mana reserves at critical levels. It is recommended that this action be aborted."**

"Objection noted, Luciferion. Override," stated Material-S calmly.

**"..."** The device didn't respond which only added to the tense atmosphere.

"COMPLY." This time, the replica's tone was a bit more forceful, which finally got the device to start gathering magical energy and spring magical circles in front of the mage and underneath her feet.

**"Order acknowledged, my Mistress."**

As the ball of magical energy grew larger and larger from the residual mana in the atmosphere, the clouds begun to part and showed their opponents caught in the green magical web created by the daggers shot out by the Nanoha replica earlier and rounded up with the help of Material-L, who had returned to the group. "I'm almost ready!" shouted Yuuno as his own magical circles started to spring from his body.

The Nanoha replica nodded before beginning her aria in sync with her device. _**"Red stars gather... and tear through everything in a blaze of light!"**_

"Oooh... this is gonna suck," grumbled the black-clad female from within the web as she prepared to muster up whatever defensive spells she had at her disposal.

"LUCIFERION BREAKER!"

* * *

She couldn't remember how long it had been since they had been blasted to the ground by that Luciferion Breaker. It had been quite a blur but when she checked her device's chronometer, it had only been a few minutes. As she got up, she noticed that her entire balance felt a bit off too. She looked down... and frowned when she saw a missing chunk of her torso. "And I liked this dress too..." One quick regeneration later and her body was restored, although the clothing damage remained.

"Hn," came the grunt of her partner who was behind her with a missing left arm.

"You okay there?"

"Peachy." After taking a moment to regenerate his arm, he glanced at the woman. "Shouldn't you be searching for those mages now?"

"Yeah, yeah. Initiating Wide Area Search." Her device flew out before flipping open to a specific page and sent out multiple orbs of light in all directions. After reviewing the feedback from the spell, she made her report. "There are no signs of them on this world but the mana signatures of those interesting mages are still fresh."

"A transport?"

"Looks like it. Refining search parameters..." The tome glowed once as it locked on to their targets. "Bingo... they're in a vessel orbiting this world. Coordinates 45 Mark 87."

Without wasting a moment, the young male got into position and prepared his device. "EC Divider... Super Substratospheric Altitude Mode."

* * *

It took a while for Material-D's eyes to readjust to the light after that teleport but once she regained her sight, she couldn't help but gawk at what she saw. "... this is your ship?"

The group had transported right to the cockpit area where there were two seats, one for the pilot and one for the co-pilot. Behind them was a door which led to a room that acted as a combination of living quarters and storage space. Material-L immediately spotted an unused clean bunk and helped the tired Material-S towards it so she could rest from her last massive attack.

"It's really just a personal shuttlecraft," panted Yuuno heavily as he was gently moved into the pilot seat by Material-D. "One of the perks being Chief Librarian of the Infinity Library, I guess."

"Hm... perhaps I should enlist you as my scholar when I finally establish my kingdom," mumbled the Hayate replica. "To document the dawn of my legacy is an important task after all."

"Let's just get out of here first," said the wounded male as he began booting the systems back up and keyed in his passcodes while Material-D resumed administering the healing magic she had applied to his burn from earlier.

**"Identify verified. All systems unlocked. Welcome back, Yuuno Scrya,"** chirped the voice of the on-board computer.

Hearing that name caused Material-S to slightly stir out of her dazed state. If it weren't for Material-L steadying her, she probably would have fallen off the bunk. "Y-Yuuno? That name... sounds..."

Before he could respond, the computer began beeping rampantly. **"Warning. Incoming attack spell."**

"Raise the shields!" Just as soon as Yuuno made the order, the ship rocked violently as the alarm signals started ringing heavily. "Damage report!"

"Hold still so I can heal you!" growled Material-D as she kept at her work.

**"Shields down to 55 percent..."**

"We're not going to blow up, are we?" asked the Fate replica in a slightly worried tone. "I don't wanna become fireworks!"

Another violent impact rocked the ship. **"Ten percent."**

"Computer, open the mage-interface port!" The console on the co-pilot's side shimmered a bit before Yuuno shuffled over to the other seat, to Material-D's annoyance, and placed his palms on the newly activated console. "Synchronize!"

"Peon, if you want me to properly treat this burn, then stop moving around so much!" Honestly, why did he have to make this so difficult?

**"Synchronization complete."**

"Circle Protection!" The defense spell was cast directly through the ship's systems, allowing a barrier to immediately sprang up and surround the exterior of the ship, softening the next blow to just a small shake. "Ah, good..."

The small shake though was enough to cause Material-D to lose enough of her balance and whatever was left of her patience. "You..." She stopped administering the healing magic, causing Yuuno to pause what he was doing when he felt the flow of her magic cut off.

"What's..." He didn't have a chance to say anything else as the freshly summoned Paper Fan of Doom came upon him.

"WHEN! I! TELL! YOU! TO! HOLD! STILL! YOU! HOLD! STILL!" screeched Material-D, emphasizing her words with a heavy smack to the head from the fan before taking a moment to catch her breath.

"Ten hit combo! Yay!" exclaimed Material-L just as they all noticed the flow of power around the ship shut off.

**"Warning. Synchronization has been disrupted due to improper connection to the interface."**

The trio all looked at Yuuno, who was now out sprawled out over the console and out cold thanks to his stamina giving out after taking that sudden barrage from the Paper Fan. "You knocked him out?" asked Material-S, glaring at the Hayate replica who was now sweating bullets.

"I... er..."

"Nice job breaking it, your Majesty," said Material-L in a sarcastic tone.

"SHUT UP!" Just as she finished snapping at the Fate replica, Material-D dragged Yuuno's unconscious body up from the chair and started repeatedly slapping his face again with the Paper Fan in an attempt to wake him up. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"

"Material-D... you need to calm down. This is not the time to panic," stated Material-S from her spot.

"First, call me 'Your Majesty'! Second, this is the perfect time to panic!" screeched the Hayate replica with her green eyes clearly showing her agitation. "If we don't do something soon, we're going to get blown up to smithereens! And he's the only person who knows how to operate the ship properly! Unless there's some sort of emergency panic button-"

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I press the panic button?" asked Material-L eagerly.

"Quiet you!" She immediately resumed trying to slap the sole male occupant awake but the only effect she has had so far was to cause his cheeks to turn red and swell up. Plus there was some bleeding from the nose thanks to a small rupture.

"Wow... her panic level's over nine thousand! Yuu-nii's nose is bleeding from all that massive damage!"

"Yuu-nii...?" Material-S found it unusual to see Material-L warm up to someone this quickly upon all the strangers that they have encountered on their vast journey. She decided to ponder on this later as there were more pressing concerns. "Material-D, see if you can get control over the vessel and move us out of orbit. I will resume attempts to wake up Yuuno."

"Dammit, call me 'Your Majesty'!" But she didn't object to the Nanoha replica's suggestion and shoved the librarian's body in her comrade's direction before she took the seat and started trying to figure things out after placing her Paper Fan to the side. "Argh... how do I work this thing? That peon just placed his hands down and..."

The moment her palms rested on the console, the computer began to react. **"New user detected. Registering palm prints..."**

**

* * *

**

"How many more cartridges do you have left?" asked the male Divider Wielder as he steadied the much larger version of his device which was still cooling down from using up that last cartridge.

"Down to the last one. Although..." She checked her skirt pockets and pulled out a bright yellow cartridge, a white cartridge and a red gem.

"Well?"

"I do have an Aura Cartridge and a Flametongue on me as well. If you don't want to use them up prematurely, you better make the last three shots count," said the woman before tossing over the white cartridge to him.

"Roger that."

* * *

**"Registration complete. Synchronization complete. Welcome, Hayate Yagami."**

"That name...!" Material-D had to fight down the urge to blast this bucket of bolts straight to heaven now just for calling her that. She did take a deep breath before trying to access ship systems. "Give me control over navigation and propulsion systems."

**"Unable to comply. Secondary control relays are offline."** Another warning siren started ringing. **"Warning! Incoming attack spell."**

'Wait... what did that peasant do again? He just cast his defensive spell through the system?' She wasn't sure if she was doing this right but she focused herself and conjured a large defensive Belkan triangle to cover the part of the ship that was being attacked. "Panzer Schild!"

While Material-D took care of defense, both Material-L and Material-S were wondering how to handle the unconscious Yuuno. "I admit... I do not know how to properly handle this type of situation," said the Nanoha replica.

"Hm... try kissing him on the lips! It should wake him up like in Sleeping Beauty!" exclaimed the Fate replica as the ship rocked once from the shield handling the first shot.

"... but he's not under a magical spell. He's been rendered unconscious by the sudden unjust beating he received earlier," replied Material-S.

"It was his fault for not staying still when I told him!" shouted Material-D in defense as her shield absorbed another hit.

"Details, details! The basic story's the same. An evil witch knocks out the fair-"

"HEY!" 'Note to self: pound that damned blue haired brat!'

"-prince and he needs a kiss from a beautiful princess to wake him up!" said Material-L with that happy childish smile on her face.

"Oh... kay..." After adjusting the unconscious librarian's body to face towards her, Material-S bent down and pressed her lips against his while carefully avoiding the blood.

"Don't forget to slip him some tongue!" shouted the Fate replica.

Material-D gave a small disdainful snort while maintaining the shield which absorbed the third shot without any major hassle. "Hmph! If I weren't stuck manning this station, I would show you how it's done!"

The moment Material-S released the unconscious Yuuno, she waited for him to wake up. However, he hardly seemed to be responding to the earlier stimulus. "I guess my kiss wasn't enough?" For some reason, she felt somewhat disappointed.

"Then lemme try!" Material-L lunged towards the librarian but was blocked off by the Nanoha replica. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know if I did it correctly. Let me try kissing him again."

"I wanna try kissing Yuu-nii!"

* * *

"Still holding together? How resilient..." He had to give them credit for being able to withstand the barrage from his modified Divide Zero spell, especially since it's being fired from his larger Divider. 'And I already used up the magical power in that last cartridge...'

"They really are something out of the ordinary!" squealed his partner, much to his irritation. "We've got to bring them back to Fortis! I'm sure he'll want to examine these new specimens as soon as possible!"

"You know the rules. Those who lay eyes on the scriptures of the Silver Cross must be eliminated." He held out his free hand. "Pass me that Aura Cartridge and that Flametongue."

"Aw, phooey. I wanted to find out what made those three tick," grumbled the woman before tossing those two items to the Divider Wielder. After changing his device back to normal standard size, he slipped in the Aura cartridge into the ammo chamber before snapping it shut. Then he held the red gem against the handle of the device until it melded into it, changing the blade to a bright red colour.

"Flametongue junctioning complete." He got into position and pointed his Divider up at the sky at the approximate point of where he had fired last. "Divide Zero Mark II: Blasting Zone."

And with that, an extended pillar of energy was released from the device and shot through the outer atmosphere...

* * *

"Okay, break it up you two!" growled the Hayate replica who was still synchronized to the ship systems in case of another attack. As the two bickered over kissing the unconscious Yuuno, Material-D merely wondered how she had managed to put up with this for over the past decade and a half.

"Seikou-chan's not being fair! She already got one kiss!" complained Material-L while keeping her eye on the prize.

"I swear if you don't shut up about kisses, I'm gonna give you a fist to the kisser!" Before she could threaten the Fate replica some more, the computer's beeping got her attention again. "What the...?"

The viewscreen popped open to reveal a large pillar of light gathering together not too far away from the rear of the vessel. What startled Material-D was that the light seemed to be originating from the surface of the planet itself. Even Material-S was wondering what it could mean. "That's..."

"A pwetty beam saber!" shouted the Fate replica in excitement.

"... oh, shit," was the only eloquent response Material-D could come up with for this latest development.


	2. The Perfect Time to Panic I

"Dammit!" Material-D grumbled as she saw the red beam slowly descending on them. Odd, she thought that it would be moving a bit faster than that, but she shrugged it off as she turned and kicked Yuuno. "This is your fault!"

"Hey! Leave Yuu-nii alone!" The blue-haired woman grabbed her and pulled her away. "Everything goes boom now!" Suddenly her eyes widened and she let the Hayate look-a-like go. "Waaah! I don't wanna go boom now!"

"Shut up! Just shut up! I don't want my last moments to be about you screaming!" Yami yelled at her before spinning on Material-S who had swiftly moved to the front. "What the hell are you doing!" She wasn't like this and was far more reserved in normal circumstances but this wasn't a normal situation. "We're going to die and you're messing with the controls! Didn't you hear? It won't work!"

Seikou wasn't listening as she pushed a few buttons, flipped a switch, before finally just cursing softly and dropping two closed fists onto the control panel. Suddenly the controls lit up and everyone not sitting down was flung against the back wall as the ship took off into dimensional space.

Back on the planet the two odd people were smirking at their handiwork. "They're dead now." The male of the two suddenly frowned. "Wait a second, I didn't... feel... anything..." He suddenly growled loudly, a sure fire indication that he was deeply upset as normally he was a bit of a stoic character. "They got away!"

"How the hell should I know?" The woman snapped at him. "You're the one who burned the last two cartridges we had!"

"Damn, Fortis is going to be _pissed_." The male grimaced slightly as he realized just how bad their superior was going to take this before calming himself down.

"I say we say nothing about failing to kill them." When she got a shrug from him, she nodded. "Good, it's in agreement then."

They just hoped that that group didn't show up again. There would be hell to pay otherwise.

* * *

"Whee!" Material-L had found a spinning chair on wheels and was making it spin around faster and faster. "I spin me right round, right round! Like a bowling ball, round round! Whee!"

Yami groaned and rubbed her forehead, why did she have someone like that as... "Material-S?" The brunette suddenly collapsed over and would have hit the ground if Yami had not grabbed her and stopped her. "Stupid girl! What the hell were you thinking? Get back into bed before I chain you to it!"

"...I might take you up on that offer, if you promise to do more than just that." Seikou was slightly out of it as she was led back to the bed.

Material-D just ignored the comment as she stepped over Yuuno. As annoyed by him as she was, she had to admit, at least they were alive. She probably couldn't say that if he hadn't been there, so, she _supposed_ that she owed him a little bit of consideration at least.

Material-L blinked as a button on one of the nearby panels started flashing and beeping. Shrugging, she got off her chair and looked at it. "Shiny!" She giggled and bopped it, blinking and pouting as it stopped flashing and the beeping stopped. "No fair, I liked my shiny." She turned and sighed as she looked at Yuuno. "Yami was so mean to Yuu-nii!" She grabbed him and picked him off the floor. Despite her look, Rai (or Rai-chan as she called herself) was the physically strongest one of the three Materials. Just before she turned around, a communication channel opened thanks to the button she pressed earlier.

**"Damnit, Ferret Boy! What kind of trouble did you get into this time?"** A male voice was heard, causing the blue-haired woman to turn as she held an unconscious Yuuno, bridal style, in her arms.** "You were supposed to call me an hour…"** The man, who had blue hair and eyes, trailed off as he looked at what was happening on the other side.** "Uh..."**

Rai blinked a few times. "I'm sorry, Dave, Yuu-nii can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message at the tone and we'll get right back to you. BEEP!"

* * *

On the other side, Admiral Chrono Harlaown blinked a few times as he stared at the image in front of him. If his eyes were working correctly, the image on the other side was showing him that a blue-haired version of his sister was carrying around a beaten up Yuuno Scrya on his ship.

'I didn't take a sip this morning, did I?' Just to be sure, he opened his desk drawer where he stashed away a bottle of MC 0055 vintage wine and took a glance. Nope, he hadn't opened it today so that means he wasn't seeing a drunken hallucination. At least nobody else was seeing this as this call was being made from his personal quarters on board the _Claudia_. If this development got out, the entire TSAB would probably know about this thanks to the efforts of the rumour mill, which worked extremely fast when armed with a particularly juicy piece of news. Even faster than Fate's True Sonic Form.

Okay, game face is on. Time to get some information. "How did you get a hold of this restricted channel? Identify yourself!"

**"I don't talk to super villains!"**

There was something seriously wrong with this woman. But he had to be careful when addressing her since she has Yuuno at her mercy. "I'm not a super villain!"

**"Yes, you are! You got those evil spikes on your shoulders! You don't deserve the name Dave! I'll call you Evil Kyon from now on!"**

Chrono felt his right eye start twitching upon hearing these childish insults. Seriously, why can't people accept that he digs those spikes on his Barrier Jacket? "Don't call me that. I'm Admiral Chrono Harlaown of the Time Space Administration Bureau. To whom am I speaking with?"

**"I don't give my name to bad guys, Evil Kyon!"**

Before he could try to say something else, he saw the door behind the Fate lookalike slide open to reveal... 'Hayate?'

**"Material-S is resting now. There should be enough room on the bed for the peon as well. Put him away, Material-L."** The newcomer then noticed the open channel. **"Just who are you talking to?"**

**"Some evil admiral,"** replied the Fate lookalike before she waved cheerfully at the screen with a free hand. **"Baibai!"**

'Now I have someone else to factor in... This Hayate lookalike.' Perhaps he could get negotiate with her for Yuuno's safety. As she took a seat, Chrono noted her posture which could very well give him a clue as to what he was dealing with.

Let's see here... crossed legs and her right cheek leaning on her palm as the right elbow laid on the armrest. She just draped herself on the chair so casually, not even caring if he was an Admiral as the other woman mentioned earlier before she left with Yuuno.

"And you are...?"

**"The Lord of Darkness. The future ruler of this realm, Material-D. You are free to address me as 'Your Majesty'."** She put on a thoughtful look which somewhat looked cute on her. **"I wonder how much of the cosmos I should take under my rule. There will likely be worlds not worth my attention and grace."**

Now he has to deal with someone with wild insane ambitions to rule the universe? He could feel the migraine forming. But first... "What are your intentions with Mr. Scrya?"

She paused in her ponderings and turned to address the Admiral with a cold look in her emerald eyes. **"Scrya? Ah... that peon that Material-L is putting away. He will be servicing me from this moment forward until the day he dies. That is all."**

**"HEY! Don't hog Yuu-nii to yourself!"** shouted the Fate lookalike as it reappeared from behind. **"I want to play with him too!"**

'Material-D... Was she the one that hurt him so badly? And the other one wants to do the same? Dammit, you really know how to get into hot water, ferret boy...' He took a small breath to focus before speaking again. "What is it that you want for his release and safe return?"

**"Hmmm... funny you should mention that. I have a small list of things that I eventually want for my Kingdom,"** said Material-D as she summoned a rather lengthy piece of paper that just unrolled itself all over on the other end.

**"Nice going, Evil Kyon. Now she's going to ramble on and on and..."** A beat before Material-L turned to the other woman. **"You still got my chicken farm on there?"**

Material-D rolled her eyes. **"Yes, you still have your chicken farm..."**

Chrono just twitched again. '... what the hell is with these women?'

* * *

"Yami?" Material-S groaned out in a raspy tone, blinking in the low light. She hadn't thought that the other woman would stay in bed with her, but then again, Yami did like to surprise her at times. And despite everything else, Yami did care about her and Rai-chan. After blinking a few more times, she noticed the hair which was too long to be Yami's... "Rai-chan?" It wouldn't be the first time that the other Material had snuck into bed with her. Finally when her awareness came back to her, she realized that it wasn't either Material. "...Yuuno-san?"

For some odd reason, Seikou found her body getting slightly warm from him being near her. Plus she could still remember his kiss, but then again, that had been her kissing him. Tilting her head, she wondered why she had a sudden urge to do that again. Shrugging it off, she decided just to go for it and leaned in, kissing Yuuno on the lips again.

Since there wasn't, as Rai would put it, a pwetty beam saber coming down on her head, she decided to relax and enjoy the sensation of her lips on Yuuno's. 'Plus his body is rather nice...' She thought to herself, before rolling over and pressing herself against him. For some reason, she felt rather warm, safe and protected. 'I could get used to this.' Just as she finished that thought, she felt Yuuno's arms wrap around her body, hugging her tight. 'Well, this was unexpected.'

Unexpected it may be but for her, it was not unwelcome.

* * *

Chrono rubbed his forehead as he tried to wrap his head around what exactly these women wanted. "Okay, I understand that you want to be called your majesty and that you want your own section of the universe, and the chicken farm. I can kind of understand that... But we are NOT breeding magically enhanced attack doggies for you."

The Hayate look-a-like glared at him while the blue-haired version of his sister suddenly started tearing up and put her hands near her mouth. **"B... But... Who will guard my chickens if not for magically enhanced and bred attack doggies? Huh? WHO?"** His sister's look-a-like started wailing at a high pitch.

'Well...' Chrono thought with a wince, 'she's nothing like Fate.' Whether that was a good or bad thing, he wasn't sure yet.

**"Evil Kyon is mean!"** Material-L whined and glomped the other woman. **"The evil admiral's being mean, Yami!"** Suddenly she stopped whining and her eyes gleamed. **"Can... Can I... Can I shoot him?"**

"Wait, what?" Chrono stared at the woman as she had a predatory gleam in her eyes. She didn't even know where he was, that he was certain of. But for some odd reason, he didn't feel any better knowing that. "You can't shoot me! You'd get dozens of enforcers on you like a ton of bricks."

**"AH HA!"** Material-L suddenly jumped up and pointed a finger at him. **"I KNEW you were evil! Evil spikes, black clothes and now having people to enforce your will! EVIL! EVIL! Yami-chan! We must save Yuu-nii from such evil people!"**

"He WORKS for me!" Chrono eventually got sick of the accusations being thrown his way. "And you kidnapped him."

Both women blinked at him as if he was the craziest person in the universe.

**"Why would we kidnap such a peon?"** The silver-haired woman huffed at him. **"If anything, we saved him from a horrible fate, and, as gratitude, he is to be my servant for the rest of his life."**

**"Yeah! Yuu-nii's too good of a person to work for someone so evil as you!"** His sister's look-a-like pumped a fist into the air before pointing at him dramatically. It probably wouldn't be so eerie to Chrono if both women didn't look similar to and sound exactly like his sister and Hayate.

'At least there isn't someone who looks and sounds like Nanoha with them,' thought the Admiral to himself. That would be too much for him.

* * *

"Magnus. Visitor."

The prisoner heard the announcement and the door open ahead of her but she didn't bother looking through her transparent cell. After all, there was only one person who would actually visit her in this cell. She turned the next page in her book while she greeted the visitor. "Hello, Enforcer Lanster."

"Hello, Runessa. How are you doing?" asked the orange haired young woman from the other side.

"I'm well. I appreciate that you were able to get me some reading material to keep my mind from wandering about too much. Even if it's ridiculous gibberish about the Sankt Kaiser," replied Runessa in a calm tone.

"Sister Carim would be disappointed to hear you say that."

She placed the book down for a minute and turned towards Teana, her red eyes fuelled with mixed emotions. "What makes you think I would care about that? Or that I would actually take these 'teachings' to heart? Are you expecting me to claim that I have seen the light and ask for sanctuary in the Saint Church?"

"Not at all-" The mage was cut off when her former partner got up from her spot and went right to the edge of the glass wall so that both women were eye to eye with one another.

"Then what? What drives you to keep coming here and offer me these... hope spots?"

There was a pause for a moment until Teana spoke. "Remember what you told me way back then? Just shortly after you came here?"

Runessa's anger seemed to dim for a bit. "That you should kill me if you want to protect that dream peace world of yours. Otherwise, I'll just find a way to start everything all over again."

"No, you won't. Somewhere deep inside, I believe that there's a good person buried underneath layers of trauma from the war in Orussia. I saw a glimpse of it when we talked after the Mariage incident several times. And I know that I'll reach her one day."

This earned an amused snort from the prisoner. "Are you for real?"

"Does it look like I'm joking?" replied Teana calmly.

After another long pause, Runessa let her anger fade with her eyes now taking on a tired look. "You're wasting your time with this."

"Perhaps... but I just don't like the thought of giving up on someone when I know I can still save them." The Enforcer then heard a beeping noise and noted the display on her personal digital assistant. "I have to cut this short. Gotta run to a briefing with Major Nakajima."

"... give my regards to the Major," said Magnus as she returned to her bed and picked up the book again to resume where she left off.

* * *

Chrono took a moment to focus himself while keeping in mind that this conversation was seriously getting him nowhere. These women were obviously not really helping in the way they kept insisting they were the good guys when it was obvious that it was the other way around. Seriously, who's gonna believe that someone with the title of 'The Lord of Darkness' will turn out to be a good girl?

Not him for sure. He wouldn't admit it but Material-D was the one who unsettled him the most, even more so than his sister's duplicate. If her magical power's were anything like Hayate's, then that means he would need to prepare a better defense to deal with bombardment magic from a mage with extremely high magical power output. And that meant lots and lots of calculations to put up the strongest barriers. Calculations that someone like Yuuno Scrya, one of the best mages when it came to defense, could do fairly easily...

Oh, wait... he's in the clutches of the enemy. Chrono wanted to curse himself for not taking better precautions all because he wanted to keep this operation a secret. He should have went the full distance and gotten a decent sized security escort for the Librarian. Yes, it would have drawn some attention but at least this way, his safety would have been more or less guaranteed. No, because of his negligence, one of his old friends was in trouble.

And speaking of negligence, what was that saying again? You don't appreciate something until it's gone? It seems like everyone had taken Yuuno's support for granted for the past several years. Once they retrieved him from the clutches of his kidnappers, he would have to take some time to make sure that Yuuno's recovery goes well. Maybe take the guy out for drinks or organize a large reunion party so that he can catch up with some of the other important people in his life, particularly Nanoha, for old time's sake. They haven't been able to sit down and have a long friendly chat in quite a while.

That will have to wait. He needed to know where exactly that ship went. The patrol vessels in the area where the site had been found were currently recovering all the bodies of the secret security detail that had been there and Yuuno's own ship was nowhere to be found. While Chrono has a connection now, he can attempt to trace the call and compute the ship's position although this will compromise the current privacy features. After some consideration, he decided to take that risk and silently resequenced the connection properties to begin tracing.

Now the next thing to do is to stall like hell until he got something concrete. "Look, 'Your Majesty'... I have full access to Yuuno's employment records which proves that he chose to work for the TSAB and am more than happy to send them over to your end."

**"How can we tell that those documents aren't forged?"** asked Material-D coldly.

"There's an official seal stamped on-"

He didn't get much further than that when Material-L barged in again. **"You kill baby seals and stamp them to your papers! More proof that you're such an evil monster! I bet-"**

* * *

On the bridge of the _Claudia_, things were busy as usual with everyone going about their regular routines. As per standard military protocol, one person was holding the bridge until Admiral Harlaown returned from his business. Right now, said person was receiving a report from one of the staff members of the engineering department. "Angie's gonna need an hour to properly repair the dimensional communication transfer relay. We're still investigating how it got damaged in the first place."

"So what does that mean in general?"

"Call transfers may be a bit buggy. For example, a private call to the Admiral could end up getting transferred to the bridge. Worst case scenario, some media station on Mid-Childa or a public domain television like in a mall," said the female engineer in a straight tone.

The dark haired young man, who currently sat in the Admiral's command chair, nodded and briefly pushed up his glasses. "You've already informed Admiral Harlaown?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Keep us posted then." The two officers exchanged salutes before the female communications officer sitting just ahead turned around with a mischievous little smile on her face.

"You're really getting good at command, Yaz-kun."

He gave a small snort. "Stay focused on your job, Shi Nye." Their conversation was then interrupted by a small beeping on Shi's console and she quickly turned back to check on it. "What was that?"

"How interesting. There's a call connection from the Admiral's personal quarters to... the _Berlakian Universal Shuttle_."

Yaz frowned for a moment. "Isn't that the personal vessel of that Librarian guy?" For some reason, he really couldn't remember his name often even though he knew that the Librarian travelled around a lot and made many appearances in academic and historic circles.

"Yeah. Why would the Admiral make a call to the BUS?" A pause and then a giggle from Shi. "Maybe he's engaged in a steamy conversation with his hidden gay lover! Hmmm... Yuunoro has a certain nice ring to it!"

"The Admiral's married... with children." He would never understand this whole fascination that the common population had with famous people and their relationships. Honestly, the whole idea was annoying to him. If he got any more spam messages from the Legion of NanoFate, he was probably going to...

"Let's eavesdrop on the conversation! A little piggyback carrier to create an additional visual feedback and..."

Shi's rapid typing snapped Yaz out of his thoughts. "That's not professional! If you don't stop that now-"

"Initializing!" sang Shi as she finished the final sequence and put up the image on the main screen. But rather than seeing the sight of the Chief Librarian, everyone was treated to sights of weird doppelgangers of two of the TSAB's most prominent figures.

**"- that you get some turn on torturing animals like that, Evil Kyon!"**

The whole bridge went into a dead silence upon hearing that.


	3. The Perfect Time to Panic II

"Yuuno-san..."

Ah, that voice. That sweet heavenly voice that belonged to the one that he loved was speaking to him.

"Yuuno-san, please..."

Odd, it sounded a little flatter and controlled than he recalled it being.

"Yuuno-san, I'm having some difficulty breathing."

Blinking his eyes open a few times, he saw that woman, the one that looked just like Nanoha, only with shorter hair and... Those blank blue eyes. Even with those changes there, she still had it. The looks, the voice, not to mention her ability to blow stuff up with ease… it was all Nanoha.

She was beautiful, no doubt about it. But there was something that bothered him. 'Whoa, wait a second…' Many questions started coming to his mind such as why was she on top of him, why did it feel like he was squeezing something pert, round, soft and firm; and why was she blushing so much?

"Yuuno-san... You're hugging me too hard... And you're squeezing my butt." Considering the tone she was using, she could have been talking about the weather. Though the way she was blushing made it clear that she wasn't.

"Ah...!" Yuuno's eyes widened as he quickly pulled his arms off of her body, getting a confused look from the woman. "Sorry... Guess I..." He found it rather hard to continue speaking, mostly because Seikou suddenly leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

It took several moments for Yuuno's mind to reboot after the major system crash that had just happened. When she didn't seem to stop kissing him, he blinked before closing his eyes and putting his hands on her sides and actually returning the kiss. For some reason, she started to tremble, though he wasn't sure why.

For Seikou, it was quite interesting, the kiss led to some shocking tingles through her body, and she could feel herself starting to get energized. Her body trembled and she wasn't sure why. After a few more moments, she pulled her head back and looked at Yuuno curiously. "Ne, Yuuno-san..." She trailed off, blinking as she felt something hard poke her. "What is that?"

The blond felt like he could just die. He finally was able to kiss someone. Granted it wasn't the way he had imagined but now he was making a big fool of himself. "Uh..." His eyes widened as she shifted on his body to get a better look. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure." She admitted as she looked his body over curiously.

* * *

The bridge crew was wondering if maybe they had ended up in an alternate reality. After all, such a thing had to be possible, considering the amount of worlds that they visited during their careers, alternate realities had to be possible as well.

Hayate and Fate with different hair and eye colors was just the tip of the iceberg.

_"I do NOT get some sort of turn on by torturing animals!"_ Chrono was heard yelling at the two women. For all his restraint and calm, the two seemed to be going out of their way to really, really irritate him.

**"Evil Kyon is lying again! Yami, can we just tie up Yuu-nii and keep him away from such an evil person?"**

The Hayate look-a-like tapped her chin and slowly grinned. **"Hmm... Not a bad idea... As my personal servant, he would not be allowed to leave and go to work for such a... Barbaric uncouth employment group."**

_"Now just wait a moment here!"_ Chrono yelled at them before stopping as a loud male groan was heard from behind the women. _"What the heck are you doing to Yuuno?"_

**"That blasted Material-S, what is she doing?"** Yami growled before pointing back in the room behind her. A Belkan triangle appeared in front of the door before she snapped her fingers, causing the moaning to become silent.

The Fate look-a-like bounced, literally as she jumped from her spot to the back rooms and opened the door. **"Aww... Seikou! No fair... Wait, what are you doing? Oh wow! I need to try that later, though Yuu-nii looks like, oh..."** She suddenly giggled and closed the door, slowly spinning as she wandered back to Yami. **"Hee hee! Seikou's getting Yuu-nii good!"**

_"You monsters! What type of torture are you inflicting on him?"_

Rai waggled her fingers at him. **"Nah uh uh! It's not polite to tell."**

Chrono was about to say something, but his eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped as he looked at the person who was walking out of the back room. She was smoothing out her hair with one hand while her other hand was brushing off some dust from her barrier jacket's sleeve. Seeing that wasn't what got Chrono shocked. No, what got him shocked was who the woman looked like. Other than the hair length and the deeper eye color, she looked like Nanoha.

**"Rai-chan, just why did you decide to bother us?"** The Nanoha look-a-like asked, her face was rather relaxed, hell, if Chrono was in a proper state of mind, he'd say that she was rather pleased at that moment, even as she looked at the Fate look-a-like curiously.

The crew of the _Claudia_ stared at the screen, utterly stunned at what they were seeing.

"Unreal…" Shi was so stunned that her fingers dropped onto the keyboard in front of her. Unknown to her and everyone else, she had accidentally hit a relay button that caused the transmission feed they were viewing to beam to the nearest satellite orbiting above the home world. The result was that all normal television signals were overridden with the current images, allowing them to be seen and heard on each and every television screen on Mid-Childa.

* * *

"Thanks for the ride, Nakajima-san." Teana said as she leaned back in the seat.

Shaking his head, the older man smiled softly. "Teana, please, I've told you that you can call me 'dad' if you wanted to."

"It doesn't feel right unless I was adopted or married into your family, I've told you before." Teana shook her head and sighed softly, putting another round of talks about Genya trying to get more people into his family out of her mind.

"…You're thinking about that case, huh?" When Teana nodded, Genya shook his head as he turned a corner. "I'm not sure what to tell you, myself, Teana. I thought that it was just some terrorists causing problems on less populated worlds."

"That's what we all thought. Things changed when there were survivors who started reporting that the people involved had weird abilities."

"High speed regeneration among other things." Genya knew about the reports. "Teana, I'll be honest. I know that you're a top-level Enforcer but be careful out there."

"Thank you." Teana smiled softly, glad that he cared about her well-being before her mind drifted back to the case. The thought of finding a bunch of freaks with high speed regeneration and having to fight against them wasn't her idea of a mission. "At least Fate-san will be there with me, I doubt that I'll have too many problems."

Genya smiled at her. "It's nice to have faith in others, but don't underestimate yourself."

"Or others." She added to him.

"Of course." He smiled as he pulled into his driveway. "Just let me… Well, well…" He had a small smile on his face as he pointed to his front door. Looking, Teana let out a giggle as the two of them saw a short-haired young teenaged boy looking around cautiously, his back to them. "Looks like someone's trying to get out before his sisters get back."

Laughing softly, Teana shushed him as she slipped out of the car and quietly snuck up on him, who was being extra mindful of his surroundings and even had his device, a floating camera, out. "Alright… looks clear, Steed," muttered the teenager under his breath.

"Master, behind-" The device never got a chance to finish as a certain Enforcer had closed the distance already.

"Toooo~uuuuma…" sang Teana as she came up from behind and lifted him off the ground. "Just where were you off to?"

"Ack! Teana!" Touma Avenir, someone who had been saved by Subaru a few years ago, gasped as his (unofficial) older sister's best friend hugged him from behind. "Where did you come from?"

"Around the corner with your dad."

"I'm not adopted yet." He groused as she let him go. He had a vaguely annoyed look on his face as he looked at her, before blinking as Genya walked up behind her. "Ack!"

Smirking at the boy, Genya shook his head. "I know that my girls are a bit hard to handle sometimes, Touma. But really, leaving without saying good-bye to them?"

"If he doesn't leave now, he will not have another chance to depart for at least a day," chirped Steed.

Genya chuckled softly. "I need to get something inside. Excuse me a moment."

After Genya had entered the house, Touma huffed at Teana. "Thanks, Teana…" He had a small disgruntled look on his face, slightly upset that she had stopped him from slipping out and avoiding his sisters' hugs. Okay, so they weren't really his big sisters yet he really did want to take Genya up on his offer of adoption. But he couldn't settle down yet. Not until he knew who it was that killed off his village, and why they had done it. It just wouldn't leave his mind until then.

"Don't mention it, kiddo." Teana smirked, ruffled his hair and laughed as he complained and tried to smooth it out. "So, where were you heading out to? Trying to avoid your sisters?" She winked at him, knowing how clingy and pushy Subaru and Wendi could be. Nove might have hid it well, but she was almost as bad as those two were.

"Guh…"

Teana blinked as Touma seemed to go melancholic on her. "Hey! Don't get all depressed on me." She lightly punched him in the shoulder. She frowned when she got no response from him. "And you wonder why your sisters worry about you so much."

"Ack!" Touma gasped as Teana pulled him into a headlock. "Sorry! Sorry! I was just thinking!"

Smirking as she let go of his headlock, Teana shook her head. "Don't look so down, okay?"

"I was thinking of... Before."

"...Oh." Teana knew what he was talking about, she understood what he was feeling very well, considering that until she met Subaru, she had no real family after her brother had died. "Is that why you turned down Genya's offer to adopt you?"

"Yeah..." Touma nodded with a soft sigh. "What about you? Why'd you turn his offer down?"

"I... I don't know myself. It just doesn't feel right, you know?" Even if the offer made her extremely happy, she just had some reservations about taking him up on it.

Touma grinned at her. "Probably because you're afraid it would mess your relationship with Su-chan up."

"HEY!" Teana's face turned bright red as Touma laughed. Growling, she grabbed him into a headlock and pulled him against her. "Say it!"

"No!"

"Say it!"

"ACK!" Touma's eyes bugged out as she tightened the headlock, he had forgotten that Teana was rather strong, at least for a "normal" human. "Okay, okay! Sorry!"

Smirking, Teana let go of the headlock, but kept him right next to her. "It isn't just us, you know... Einhart's still not sure about her relationship with everyone."

Touma nodded, knowing how it was different with the younger girl. It had shocked everyone when Nove practically ordered Einhart to move to a larger house just a couple blocks over. It had a benefit of getting Einhart to live with someone and it put the younger girl close to the Nakajima home. From his own observations, he was certain that Einhart had yet to come to a conclusion on what Nove was to her and vice versa.

"What do you think?" asked the boy, getting a shrug from the orange-haired young woman.

"I really wouldn't mind having you, Subaru, Nove, Einhart, Dieci, Wendi, Ginga and Genya as my family, but it just..."

"You live on your own for a while and you get used to it. Su-chan, Ginga, Wendi, Nove, Dieci and Cinque never had to live on their own..." Touma trailed off, unsure as to how to explain it better.

"Yeah, something like that." Touma was right with his earlier statement. And if she did take Genya up on his offer, well, she was a bit worried about how that would affect her relationship with Subaru. "Anyway, we're getting too mopey. Why were you just trying to slip out?"

Touma blushed and scratched his cheek. "Trying to avoid being smothered by my sisters."

Teana laughed at him. "So, who are you trying to avoid the most?"

"Ginga..." Touma scratched his cheek and blushed softly. "Though Wendi's pretty bad too."

The two of them shared a laugh. "Ne, Teana..." He blushed as she looked at him curiously. "Even if you don't know it, you're an awesome person."

"Ack!" He fell to the ground when she bopped him lightly, in the arm while her face was slightly red from the sudden embarrassment. "What was that for?"

"Sorry. You just surprised me." She extended a hand to help pull him up. "But, thank you."

"Um, Teana..." Touma was blushing as he rubbed his cheek with a finger nervously. "...Can I call you Tea-nee?" His eyes widened as he was pulled into a hug by the older girl.

"Go ahead... little brother." When he hugged her back, Teana just closed her eyes, enjoying herself. It was nice having a brother again.

As for Touma? Well, as much as he loved his other sisters, it was nice to have one that wasn't crazy. Of course, this little peaceful moment wouldn't last long as…

"Touma!" Several female voices yelled out at the same time.

Knowing what was going to happen, Teana let go of the boy and got out of the way before a flying purple haired girl practically glomped him, tackling him to the ground. "Leaving without saying goodbye?"

"Ack! Su-chan!" Touma could feel the life being squeezed out of him as she hugged him tightly while her bosom pressed against his face. There's nothing bad about this and he really didn't mind the sensations, but the tight hug was stealing his breath away and her breasts were making it hard to breathe. Maybe he could have Steed help him develop a spell so that he could absorb oxygen from the air around him instead of breathing?

"Get off of him!" An angry voice yelled as Subaru was pulled up and off of him, letting him take a huge gasp of air.

"Thanks, Nove…" Touma panted, before he found himself picked up by someone else and pulled into a hug. "Ack, Wendi!" Well, at least this hug wasn't as tight as Subaru's had been.

"Hey, kiddo." Wendi grinned at him as she held him against her. Her grin became a smirk as his face slowly turned red.

"Wendi!" Nove yelled at her as she got behind Touma, pressing her body against his back and getting close to her taller, though slightly younger, sister. "Stop doing that."

"Doing what?" Wendi had an innocent look on her face that was fooling no one. Especially Touma, who was blushing more.

"Um, Wendi… Could you please get your hands off of my butt?" Touma didn't mind, it felt kind of good, but it was getting Nove upset, and he really didn't want her upset. Things tended to break when she got really mad. Then again, he was wondering why it felt like it just wasn't Nove that was getting upset at Wendi at that moment.

"Oh, sorry, my hands slipped." Wendi moved her hands and Touma let out a sigh of relief, before he was pulled free of the two redheads and into Dieci's arms.

"Hey, kiddo." She smiled and chuckled as his face turned even redder, not because her hands were anywhere that would do that, but because his face was firmly between her breasts. "Relax… most men would kill to be in your shoes right now."

If Touma was honest, he could say that he didn't mind his position. But right now, he really could use his personal space back and having another body come from behind him for a hug was not helping.

"Don't hog him all to yourself," scolded Ginga lightly as she got in her turn. The teenaged boy's thoughts started turning towards the eldest of the Nakajima women. She was nice, beautiful, smart and strong, but she was also so affectionate. Not as crazy as Subaru or Wendi, but still…

It probably didn't help that she kept trying to steal him away from the rest of her sisters just to have him hang out with her. Hmm, things were starting to spin again. Why did he have to be shorter than his sisters? Well, except for Nove and Cinque. But then again, everyone was taller than those two and he never had to worry about his face being subjected to Marshmallow Hell when they hugged him.

Okay, so Touma wasn't _that_ much shorter than his sisters, he just happened to be the right size where they could smother his face into their lovely bosoms.

"Come on you two. Let him go already. He's about to pass out." A soft voice spoke up as Ginga and Dieci stepped back, allowing him to gasp for air before he was hugged at his waist with a face pressing into his chest.

"Hey, Cinque." He smiled softly and hugged her back. At least she couldn't cut off his air supply...

"Touma…" It was all she said as she tightened her grip.

"Urk." He stood corrected. Stupid cyborg strength.

Then he felt a tap on his arm and turned his head to see who it was. To his surprise, he saw a silver-green haired girl standing there, blushing shyly as she looked at him, somewhat expectantly. Grimacing slightly from the way Cinque hugged him, he opened his arm to the side and nearly fell over as Einhart Stratos, Nove's unofficial daughter/younger sister hugged him tightly, murmuring how she'd miss him when he left.

"Group hug!" Subaru and Wendi yelled at the same time, getting Touma's eyes to widen as all his sisters suddenly ganged up on him, smothering him with more hugs. His face turned scarlet and he was almost certain that Wendi wasn't the only one grabbing his butt this time. After all, she didn't have three hands. Or at least he hoped she didn't, otherwise that one time he had seen her naked by accident had been a lie.

Inside the house, Genya smiled as he looked at the commotion outside and poured himself a glass of water. It was nice to see everyone sharing a happy moment together. He just hoped that such peaceful days could continue…

*Beep beep beep*

Sighing and getting annoyed by the incessant beeping, Genya pushed a button to open a communications channel on the closest available computer monitor. "Yes?"

"Major Nakajima, you need to turn on a television, now!"

Blinking at the urgency in the tone of voice he was hearing, Genya turned to the small television on his kitchen counter. 'Just what could be so…'

His eyes opened wide as he dropped his glass in shock. He never thought he'd see the Aces on the television looking so… downright chilling.

* * *

'This can't be… real, can it?' He honestly wished this was some sort of bad dream but his eyes weren't deceiving him.

"**You were making some interesting noises back there with Yuu-nii! Reminds me of a little tune…"** The Fate replica sported a rather happy look on her face as she spun around the chair. **"Ahh, ahh… B-Gata, H-Kei~!"**

**"…"** The Nanoha replica decided not to comment on that little song and noticed the open channel. **"Who are you speaking with?"**

**"Some Evil Admiral!"** chirped the blue haired woman.

"I'm not evil!" Chrono then took a moment to clear his throat in an attempt to try and salvage this situation. "Just who are you?"

**"I am the Starlight Destroyer, also known as Material-S. These two are my close companions, the Lightning Assailant and the Lord of Darkness." **She gestured to the two near her.

Okay… so they all possessed titles that didn't exactly make them look friendly but it appeared that she seemed approachable enough for Chrono to reason with. "What about Yuuno Scrya? Is he with you? What were you doing to him earlier?" Despite his own problems with Yuuno, he did consider Yuuno one of his best friends.

**"Yuuno-san was badly burned while he performed a rescue attempt for me and my comrades. Later, when we were escaping, he suffered a moderate concussion. Just a little while ago, he woke up and aggravated his head injury. Right now, he is in our care." **Hearing that, Chrono relaxed slightly. For a moment there, he had thought that they were torturing him, but apparently the idiot had just pushed himself too hard too soon. **"And…"** Suddenly, she trailed off as she looked at him curiously.

"...What?" For some reason, that intense gaze was unsettling to him.

"**I'm sorry, but you seem familiar to me…"** She trailed off as images came to her mind.

*Flash*

"_GIGANTE STRIKE!"_

*Flash*

"I'm not sure. I don't think we've ever met before." That much was true at least. Even if she looked almost exactly like Nanoha, outside of the short hair and the slightly different eye color, he had never met her before.

*Flash*

"_Excellion Buster!"_

*Flash*

Seikou rubbed her forehead. Something about this was just… so familiar to her. Looking at Yami, she saw her comrade's face with an intense look, reflecting the same feelings. The feeling that there was something they should be remembering about the man they were speaking with.

*Flash*

"_Pierce it, Lightning!" _

"_Jet Zambar."_

*Flash*

Why was this all so familiar to her? Almost as if she had fought against this guy before, but…

*Flash*

"_Now freeze it!" _

"_Eternal Coffin!"_

*Flash*

Her eyes seemed to clear a moment later before she looked at him again. **"Do you have a staff that can freeze things?"**

"Yes, but I don't..."

Her eyes took on a dangerous glint. **"...You will never get Yuuno-san back. I will never allow someone who has such kindness in him to work for such evil people. For your sake, Evil Admiral… you had best hope that we never meet in person for I shall not hold anything back." **

"What the heck?" Chrono was stunned and shocked at the way things suddenly went downhill as the Nanoha replica suddenly snapped at him. The fact that the other two look-a-likes were grinning maliciously from their spots was also not helping matters.

**"With the Lord of Darkness and the Lightning Assailant as my witnesses, I swear this oath. If we should ever cross paths, we shall reap the sins of your world and cleanse it in the fires of destruction. For the people who prey upon the innocent and hide beneath corrupted filth like you... tell them this. 'From this moment on, you are no longer safe. There will come the day when you look behind you and see we three. On that day, you will reap it... and we shall send you to whatever God you wish.'" **

And with that, the transmission ended as the view screen shut off.


	4. Eroge Protagonist He Is Not

"... you gotta admit that was a pretty badass oath of revenge, right?" asked Shi weakly as the shock of what happened continued settling down on the bridge.

"Oh my... this isn't good," mumbled the female engineer as she looked over the display of Shi's console.

"What do you mean?" asked Yaz.

"Everyone on Mid-Childa saw that if I'm reading this correctly. Shi's little trick caused the feedback to hit Satellite 37 and override each and every single television broadcast with that hack."

As expected, Shi turned pale upon hearing that revelation. "EEEPP!"

Yaz realized it wasn't going to be long until things got chaotic with a lot of higher ups demanding to know what was going on. He immediately took command of the situation. "Let's implement damage control procedures. The word's already out so the first place they'll come looking for answers is us. Shi, you coordinate how everyone is to handle the communication lines, which I presume are all already jammed with incoming calls."

Sure enough, the acting commander was right in that all the lines were going nuts right now. "That's affirma-ME? I don't have any command experience!"

"Might as well enjoy the feeling of ordering people around. Cuz it's probably the last time you'll do it considering how much trouble you're probably in," grumbled the engineer. "Unprofessional conduct's a hefty charge in the military court alone but the fact that all this panic is your responsibility due to your little stunt? When this blows over, if you get off with a simple court martial, you should consider yourself lucky."

"I'm going to check on the Admiral. In the meantime, you have your orders!" bellowed Yaz as he departed the bridge.

* * *

'... ugh, what happened?' Yuuno Scrya's mind was slowly coming back to reality as he tried to reconcile everything that had happened within the past... hour? Half hour? He couldn't even tell the time anymore.

He adjusted his trousers while he tried organizing his thoughts regarding his three new acquaintances that just happened to be clones of the three Aces back at home. Right now, he had to do research and gather information about those women, where they came from, what they know...

One deep breath later and he was feeling relatively calm. 'Alright, now to...'

He didn't get a chance to open the door as it opened by itself by Material-D carrying the flushed and sweating Material-S. "What the...?"

"Help me, you peasant!" growled Material-D. Yuuno quickly got into action and moved the Nanoha replica back into bed, who was finally managing to catch her breath.

"What happened?"

"Seikou-chan started turning red once we finished talking with Evil Kyon!" chirped Material-L from her spot near the doorway.

"She's returning to her previous state of mana burnout! She was supposed to rest here but instead, she comes out to the cockpit for a few minutes looking like nothing happened at all! Then she goes back to being in a state of burnout!" The Hayate replica stopped ranting and turned to glare at Yuuno. "What exactly did you do to her, you peon?"

The last time he remembered seeing her, she was kissing him... and then, she did... 'Wait a second, wasn't I dreaming a fantasy or something...?'

"I saw it!" shouted the Fate replica. "Yuu-nii's face was all flushed and there was this white-green sparkly mist in the air that Seikou-chan absorbed into her that made her get better! At least for a bit until now..."

He turned stark white as he remembered what happened then, thanks to Material-L's words. 'Wait, that means...' As for Material-D, her mouth was open but she had nothing to say while her mind absorbed exactly what the other woman just said.

Finally, she managed to sum up her thoughts in one simple question.

**"WHAT THE HELL? ! ?"**

If one thing can be said for Material-D, she could screech with the power of royalty.

* * *

Genya stared at the television, before something occurred to him and he rushed to the front door. Looking at his children, all of them, Einhart, Teana and Touma were part of his family, he knew that they needed to know. "Everyone get in here!" It took them about three seconds to get the message, another three to let go of Touma, and five seconds more for all of them to get inside and sit down in the living room.

"Dad, what's…" Subaru trailed off as he turned on the large television. Thankfully, or not, the television networks were still running what had just been played a few moments ago. "Nanoha-san?"

"She… Cut her hair…" Teana was kind of stunned, she thought that Nanoha… "Wait a second, that's not Nanoha." She was able to focus on the Hayate and Fate look-a-likes long enough to make that connection, it helped when the Nanoha look-a-like introduced herself as Seikou something-or-other.

After the connection was cut off, Dieci started to whimper horribly. "No fair…" When her sisters turned to her, she shivered. "Nanoha-san blew me up when I was a bad guy. Now I'm not a bad guy and evil Nanoha-san is going to blow me up." Tears started to flow down her face. "I don't wanna explode in pink again!"

Everyone in the living room sweat-dropped as Dieci started to go slightly catatonic.

Teana shook her head, she understood how Dieci felt. Hell, after Nanoha had blasted her, she couldn't stand the sight of pink for days afterwards, and that had just been because she had been stupid with her training. She couldn't imagine how bad it was for Dieci, who had taken a BLASTER-mode Excellion Buster to the face. "PTBD." She patted the cyborg on her shoulder and wasn't surprised when Dieci turned and hugged her, crying into her chest. "It'll be okay, the scary pink beams won't blow you up here."

Even though he sweat-dropped at the sight, Genya walked up to Touma and put a hand on his shoulder. "Touma, I know that you wanted to leave right now, but I would advise against that. Especially with terrorists running around on outlaying worlds and now this new development."

Upon seeing the looks on his sisters' faces, he knew that even trying to get off-world would be impossible, and he didn't think that they'd accompany him. Even if he liked this family, he really wanted to know just who was responsible for his home getting destroyed. Still…

"I won't leave. Not yet."

"That's all I ask." Genya smiled before being forced to step back as Wendi tackled Touma, hugging him, which triggered off the rest of her sisters to hug him as well. Sighing, Genya wondered if maybe he should have found them all boyfriends by now, at least then they wouldn't be so clingy to the poor boy.

* * *

"Well, that was… Different…" Vita mumbled as she looked at the screen. Today had been her day off too, so she was spending it with Hayate at their home.

On the table, little Reinforce Zwei was starting to get nervous as she looked around, slightly panicky. "Ne, ne… What's going on?" Something about those three was really familiar to her, and she wasn't talking about the way they looked. Their names, those names seemed to "sing" out to her and she just couldn't… Place it.

Walking out of the kitchen, Hayate Yagami, dressed in casual clothing and an apron, blinked at the concerned looks Vita and Rein were giving her. "What?" When Vita wordlessly pointed at the television, she walked over and looked, and stared, wide-eyed. "What the? Tha.. That's me… But, with different hair and her hair's shorter and… Fate-chan? Nanoha-chan? What's going on here?"

"They aren't you, but they are and… I don't know what's going on here!" Vita yelled, utterly baffled by the newest development in her life.

"Materials…" Reinforce Zwei mumbled, looking at everything and nothing as she thought about it. Something about it was just… There and wrong, what was it?

"Nnngh…" And why did it feel like her head was about to explode the more she thought about it.

Even so, there was something about them that chilled her to the bone, and it wasn't the fact that they looked like Nanoha, Hayate and Fate. The feelings she got as she looked at them were dark, cold and just wrong.

* * *

"What is it?" Yuuno was honestly confused at what suddenly crawled up Material-D's butt (and it is quite the lovely rear but this is definitely not the appropriate time for perverted observations) to get her all flustered.

"It's like everything I know about mana replenishment has been turned upside down!" To say that she was frustrated was putting it rather mildly.

"Eeehhh? Is it fun being upside down?" asked Material-L in that childish tone of hers.

"Just be quiet right now!" snapped the Hayate replica.

"Wait a second," interrupted Yuuno. "What's the big deal about mana replenishment for you? Mana is automatically generated from your Linker Core! She just needs a good rest, that's all!" Even clones had them with the most obvious examples being Fate and Erio.

"It doesn't work that way for us."

Material-D's sudden explanation quickly shattered the Librarian's theory on these women being renegade clones. "W-what do you mean?"

"Well, I eat those funny orbs but even though they make my upset tummy feel better, they don't taste so nice. It's a little better when I eat them with chicken!"

The Fate clone's sudden explanation started making things a bit more clear. "So… you don't have true Linker Cores of your own… and you have to absorb Linker Cores for mana?"

"Our Linker Cores work differently from what Yersinia Kreuz has said. We don't have true mana generators. Instead, we have mana boosters which strengthens our magic and our Cores have self monitors to make efficient use of whatever mana we have in our bodies. Come to think of it, maybe our different Linker Core structure was the reason why we drew the attention of those brutes that attacked us back on that world."

'Unreal,' thought Yuuno as he tried to absorb Material-D's words.

"We can absorb mana from other sources but we often find ourselves having to hunt for other Linker Cores to survive. If we don't… we start to fall apart," said the Hayate replica as she pointed out the feverish Material-S and how bits and pieces of her barrier jacket were slipping away at a slow rate. "When our mana levels are critically low, we start fading away piece by piece thanks to the self-preservation reaction from our Linker Cores. It tries to stay alive as long as possible by absorbing us little by little."

"It was why we were at that boring planet earlier. We found a whole bunch of weirdos and were gonna use them for dinner when those meanies got there before us and had all the fun!" grumbled Material-L. "Aaaahhh… I wanted to be the one soaked in blood, not them!"

He very nearly lost control of himself when he heard on what they had originally planned. In a way, the arrival of those Huckebein had been a blessing. After taking a breath to calm down, he addressed the Hayate replica to confirm what he heard. "So in order for her to make it through this, then she needs Linker Cores?"

"Yes… or so I thought. It seems we have another source of replenishment." Material-D jabbed a finger right into the Librarian's chest. "And that would be you."

"Yuu-nii's gonna feed us? Oooh! Can you make chicken out of thin air?" asked Material-L in an excited tone.

"He'll have to help Material-S for sure. She needs to get a new injection of mana," noted Material-D, not even noticing the shocked look on Yuuno's face.

"Whawhawha?" He could not believe what he was hearing now.

"I don't think I understand it myself but Yersinia Kreuz mentioned something about how new sources of Linker Cores and mana come from the seeds of new life, an old theory of the Nasuvians. I didn't even make the connection until Material-L made her mist comment." Material-D sighed in frustration. "I swear this is becoming something so stupid like…"

"…an eroge?" Rai added "helpfully", grinning the whole time.

Material-D's only response to that was to slap her palm against her face.

Yuuno looked at the panting form of Seikou and grimaced, okay, so what they did wasn't good, and he would never want anyone to suffer like that if he could help it. In fact, from what Yami had explained to him, it felt like they were familiars without a master to feed them continuous energy. Of course, making them into a familiar would be a bad idea, since he doubted anyone other than Hayate had the mana reserves needed to sustain high-powered familiars.

Yami looked at Yuuno and grimaced. "So, we have two choices, we can either take your Linker Core and use it to sustain ourselves…"

"I don't wanna kill Yuu-nii!" Rai glomped Yuuno, causing him to stagger as tears fell out of her eyes. "I like him."

Yuuno chuckled nervously as she did that. 'Great, either I go with the other choice, or it's death, huh?' He really didn't like either prospect, well, mostly the death part. He just wasn't sure about the other prospect.

Rubbing her forehead, Yami sighed. "OR!" When she had Rai's attention, she shook her head. "Or we can have him do what he did to Material-S, but more, since she seems to need a larger dose or a more direct contact with it."

"Ah, um well, that is…"

Material-D growled, grabbed Yuuno and slammed him against the wall. "Listen you! If you don't do what you did before to help her, I swear that I *will* take your Linker Core to make sure that she stays alive!"

"It doesn't hurt, does it, Yuu-nii?" Rai looked at him, tilting her head. "Seikou needs it and if you don't do it, she'll die, and I don't want her to die!" Her eyes lit up with tears as she clasped her hands in front of herself. "So, please… Help her."

"_This man, I know that I can trust him with my life."_ Those words came to both Yuuno and Yami unbidden, making Yuuno look at Seikou while Yami wondered if the Material-S had made the right decision in trusting him.

"Can… Can we be alone then?"

Yami let go of him as she walked to the door. "I don't care what you have to do, but she better be better soon or I will take more drastic steps."

"You care for her, huh?" Yuuno blinked as she growled and stormed off in a huff.

"Don't mind Yami-chan! She just doesn't like showing it." Rai beamed at him. "Bai bai."

As the door clicked shut, Yuuno looked at Seikou and gulped. Honestly, how long had he known these three? A few hours at best? Why the heck should he… Okay, so getting eaten wasn't on his list of priorities right now and what they were asking him to do was rather… Well, interesting. Plus she was… Opening an eye and looking at him, tiredly.

"Yuuno-san…" She gasped out, sounding rather tired and worn out. "Please…"

"**Warning. Mana levels at critical status. Deactivating barrier jacket to conserve power,****"**chirped Luciferion.

His eyes widened, seeing her outfit suddenly dissolve into motes of light that absorbed back into her own body was rather different. Of course, it had an unusual side-effect of leaving her completely naked. "Don't you usually have normal clothes under that?" asked Yuuno in a nervous tone.

Groaning, she sat up and trembled. "Not… Really… We never thought about it." Trembling, she reached out to grab his sleeve. "Yuuno-san, please… I… I need something."

"**Mana levels are at critical. Replenishment is needed."**

The way she looked at him, the way her body trembled and her hair itself was starting to dissolve just a little. He needed to do something, but… There was Nanoha, the real one, who smiled at him, who saved his life when he was younger, who still looked out for him, even now. Could he really just… Do _that _with someone he had just met?

Even if she looked and sounded like Nanoha…

It was even worse since she was naked and looking at him. Honestly, he would be lying if he said that he absolutely didn't want to go with what she wanted and there was no doubt that she was beautiful. But there was more to it. There had to be.

"Yuuno-san, please… I… Don't… Feel… Good."

Yuuno gulped as she grabbed him and pulled him into bed. Dammit, he needed more time to properly think about what was going to happen but she seemed intent on having her way with him. Then an idea came to him. It was going to be a rather risky procedure but it was something that he could at least live with rather than doing the alternative and have it gnaw at his conscience for the rest of his life. "Just relax… I got this."

He stripped down to his boxers as he needed as much direct skin contact for this to work as best as it can. Once he made himself comfortable, he took the naked woman into his arms and began to concentrate on establishing the connection between his Linker Core and her own. Slowly, he felt the world around him fade away and found himself floating in some black void. 'Where am I? Was this the way I'm supposed to do this?'

"_**Why is… there so little?"**_

He froze as he heard that feminine voice echo throughout this void. After looking around the endless space, he saw a faint speck of light and managed to move towards it. It was some sort of white transparent sphere that was absorbing tiny particles and inside that sphere was a strange looking human female dressed in traditional Japanese clothing, a red hakama and a white top that looked like it belonged on a miko. He recalled seeing such things during his time on Earth. What really stood out for him was seeing that large blonde tail and those… foxy ears. "Um…"

Her attention immediately went towards him. To be honest, it was a little unnerving how she stared at him with emerald eyes that reminded him of his own eye colour. And that blonde hair which was tied up in a ponytail… if he didn't know any better, he would have thought he was seeing an opposite sex clone of himself. _**"**__**Are you here to… help me?**__**"**_

'Is this her Linker Core?' Yuuno could have never imagined seeing a Linker Core manifest itself like this.

"_**I'**__**m so… very… very… hungry…"**_ Just as she said that, multiple chain binds shot out from the sphere and attached themselves to his waist to his sudden surprise. As he tried to free himself, he saw the foxy humanoid's face take on a far more vicious look. Her eyes changed to a red colour as facial markings sprang out all over her face. Yuuno gasped in shock as he saw a vague resemblance between this 'thing' and the monster he remembered helping to subdue, fifteen years ago. But he didn't have any more time to think as he was yanked towards the sphere.

"_**FEED ME! ! !"**_

* * *

A few hours had passed since Material-D had left Seikou and that male alone to do… that thing. It bothered her that they would have to resort to something so primal in order to survive. The only good outcome she could determine out of this situation is that Seikou would be properly replenished and rejuvenated. The mana she would be getting would come from a mage of adequate skill and power so that made Yami feel a little better about it.

She had reviewed whatever information her device had on the Nasuvians and how they worked with mana, especially in regards to storage and transfer. Some of them stored mana in miniature shapes. It reminded her of the cartridge shells that Seikou and Rai used for their own devices.

Speaking of Rai… "Keep it down! I'm trying to concentrate!"

"Kay!" And Material-L was back to pressing random buttons and blinking lights.

Sighing in irritation, Material-D went back to her reading. Based on what she could find out, it was better to have seeds that come from magicians of powerful lineages. 'Che… as if we have much of a choice in that regard!'

If anything, she couldn't complain too much about the nature of the man who was travelling with them. An adequately powerful mage who knew his place for the most part. He gave off a sense of mental discipline which was natural for him as a scholar. All admirable qualities... although that could be a bit of a problem.

She could easily envision that peon sticking with whatever self-imposed inhibitions he placed on himself and refusing to properly help Material-S. Whether those inhibitions were based on his culture, some sort of professional obligation not to engage in this sort of activity or a personal promise to a friend or a lover that he knew in his past... she would likely have to shake him free of that in order for him to properly help them recover their mana.

"Ne, Yami-chan?"

"Call me 'Your Majesty'," grumbled Material-D on reflex. "What is it?"

"Shouldn't we check on Seikou-chan and Yuu-nii now?" asked Material-L.

"... I suppose enough time has passed for him to do what needs to be done." After taking a moment to brace her nose for the odour, the Hayate replica opened the door and found that there was no smell at all. "As I thought…" Her eyes darted to where she had last seen Seikou.

The Nanoha replica seemed a lot more stable compared to the last time Material-D had seen her. She was sitting up in the bed; letting the sleeping and sweating Yuuno rest his head on her bare lap. "Hello, Rai-chan. Yami."

"What happened here?" asked the Fate replica.

"Yuuno-san used some sort of alternative means to partially replenish me," replied Seikou as she flexed her arm a bit. "As long as I do not cast any magic, I should be able to last for just under a week."

Yami gave a small sigh of relief. "I guess that's good to hear… if anything, maybe I can study what he did and refine it for our purposes." The three women then heard Yuuno groan.

"G-get away from…!" He woke up with a gasp and nervously looked around him. "I'm… back?"

"Back from where? You were here the whole time," replied Material-S.

"Ah… never mind." That whole thing… maybe it was some crazy hallucination from the stress of the mana transfer procedure. At least, he certainly hoped that it was a crazy hallucination. "Did… it work?"

"It might not be as effective as eating a Linker Core, but it'll do for now," replied Material-S in that tone of hers as she looked down on him. For some odd reason, those blank blue eyes of hers seemed to reflect a sense of… relief?

Yeah, he must be seeing things. But still, at least her condition has stabilized a little. 'One problem down and a half dozen to go…'

**OMAKE (one for the Daneel Rush fans there):**

"Let me get this straight," began Material-D. "You saw her Linker Core manifest itself as... a foxgirl?"

"Yeah. It was-" Yuuno was then cut off by Material-L.

"Ooh! I have a coupla questions, Yuu-nii! One: Was her name Sayuri? Two: Did she go around chasing her nine tails? Three: Did she go 'mugyuu'?"

Well, that was random. "Uh, her name was apparently Kuon-chan, she only had one tail and no, she didn't go 'mugyuu'."

"Hmph! What a boring foxgirl!" *FWOOSH* "But at least she has the burning stuff thingy right! Now then... STOP, DROP AND ROLL! STOP, DROP AND ROLL! STOP, DROP AND ROLL!"

Yuuno could only stare at the rolling Fate replica. "How were you two able to put up with this?"

"Don't ask," replied the other two Materials at the same time.


	5. That's A Big Hole in your Wallet, Yuuno

"Oh, good grief..." Yuuno grimaced as he removed a burnt out circuit board from the interface's exposed innards near the co-pilot seat. He pulled himself out of the interface to inspect the board a bit more closely.

"I sincerely apologize for this latest trouble," said Material-S, who was using Yuuno's green dress jacket as her only attire. The gem form of Luciferion dangled around her exposed neck just above her cleavage. "I will discipline Material-L properly for this once she awakens from her nap."

"If I wanted to point fingers, I would be taking it up with 'her Majesty'. She was supposed to be keeping an eye on things while I..." He coughed slightly. "... helped you recharge."

Material-D barely even looked up from her tome as she continued rapidly flipping through the pages. "I'm a ruler, not a babysitter. I had more important things to think about instead of continuing to tell Material-L not to push shiny buttons."

"Like your kingdom?" asked Material-S in a dry tone.

"Actually no. Considering our current predicament, I'm looking into alternative methods to replenish mana. And speaking of that..." The Hayate replica turned towards Yuuno. "I'm a bit curious about the mana transfer procedure you had done earlier. I had not heard of such a thing before."

"It's actually a newly developed medical procedure," explained the young male as he reached into his repair kit to grab some tools along with a new circuit board. "And something that is meant only to be done by a properly trained medic."

"Then how did you know about it?" asked Seikou.

"I do keep on top of medical publications and know how the procedure works in general although I was lucky back there when I tried it myself. If there had been a backlash, I would have been in major trouble."

"So that would explain why my Device didn't have information on this procedure." A small scowl appeared on Material-D's face. "I have the knowledge of thousands upon thousands of mages at my fingertips and yet, I cannot find a solution to this problem. How absurd...!"

"Do not be so hard on yourself." Seikou's words however were ignored as Yami pulled out Yuuno before he could begin repairs.

"Peon, I order you to teach me this transfer procedure!"

He adjusted his glasses briefly. "The transfer is really just a quick fix to stabilize a patient's Linker Core so they can get treated properly at a medical facility. After all, your fever hasn't totally dissipated, right?"

"That is true. Although I'm feeling much better than earlier, I am still experiencing a slight sensation of sluggishness," said Material-S.

The Librarian continued his explanation after hearing the confirmation. "It's quite tricky as you have to develop a proper synchronous flow between the Linker Core that is donating mana and the Linker Core that is receiving it. And even if the flow is established, there's a chance that the donated mana could be rejected by the receiving body. The result: a huge backlash that would just cause injury to both parties."

Even worse, if he did teach it to Yami and she tried the process on Rai or Seikou, he feared the instinctual reactions of both of their Linker Cores would desperately try to grab at the other one's mana and cause major harm to both women, leaving them in a worse shape.

"So in other words, it is a risky procedure? If that is so, then why did you not properly treat her like I asked you to in the first place?" demanded the Lord of Darkness.

"I didn't want her to surrender something like that due to extraordinary circumstances. That first precious time should be something shared between two people who care for each other deeply." He paused and then chuckled a bit. "I guess I'm a bit of a romantic."

"You didn't properly answer me earlier. Will you teach me that procedure or not?"

Yuuno adjusted his glasses before answering the Hayate replica. "I'm not qualified to teach such a thing. And I strongly advise that you do not attempt this yourself. It was pretty dangerous for me to even try such a thing in the first place. I don't want to see what consequences may happen if you tried it."

There was a pause before Material-S nodded. "I understand. I will not make any further inquiries."

Good, he had the Nanoha replica's reassurance. Now for Material-D. "Well?"

"Don't order me around!"

"I'm not giving an order. I'm asking for a favour," said the young man patiently. "Please promise me, Your Majesty."

'He called me...?' She was startled at how he addressed her as such with such sincerity in his tone and noticed the intense look from his green eyes. For some reason, it was making her feel a little warm in some awkward fashion and she didn't like it one bit. "F-fine! I won't bother you again about it, peasant," mumbled the Hayate replica with her cheeks slightly flushed.

Yuuno smiled upon hearing that response. "Thank goodness. I better get back to work so if you'll excuse me, ladies..." He once again ducked underneath to fiddle with the circuits while Material-S glanced at Material-D with an odd look in her eye, which made the Lord of Darkness a little uncomfortable.

"What are you staring at?"

The Nanoha replica merely gave a mysterious little smile before leaning in to whisper in the other woman's ear. "Taking the tsundere approach, hm?"

"Oh, quiet you!" Yami settled back into her spot as she gave the new information some thought. 'The procedure he used there carried a huge amount of risk and he refuses to teach it to me. In that case, I'll have to rely on the primary plan. Hopefully, I should be able to administer it on him before Seikou's levels reach a critical low again.' Tucked underneath her arms and hidden from the sight of the others, her device gave off a dark blue aura as it began to make the calculations needed to properly construct the enchantment.

* * *

Stretching as she walked into the house, Nanoha Takamachi smiled at her twelve year old daughter, Vivio Takamachi, as the two returned from their practice that morning. "You did good today, Vivio."

"Thanks, mama." The little blond was happy that Nanoha had taken the time to spend the day with her and help her refine her fighting style. "Maybe I'll be able to help Nove and Einhart fight against everyone without needing you to blow up the field with Teana."

"Nyahaha… you're never going to forget that little mishap, eh?" chuckled Nanoha nervously. It was almost as bad as when Yuuno and Fate reminded her, constantly, about all the times she over-abused Starlight Breaker when she was younger. It wasn't until Teana had hit her with her own version of Starlight Breaker that she understood just why Yuuno and Fate had complained so much back then. "You better be prepared for Corona, though. I believe that she's been able to summon more than one Golem these days."

"Ngh!" Vivio nodded her head, Corona was always looking to improve her Golem abilities. She wondered how long until Corona could summon up a Golem that could fly into space and fire orbital death lasers on everyone.

"_NANOHA-CHAN!"_

Both Nanoha and Vivio stumbled as they heard Hayate's voice in their heads. _"Hayate-chan? What's going on? Vivio and I can both hear you." _

"_Have you seen the news?"_ The urgency was obvious as mother and daughter looked at each other in confusion.

"_No. We had been working out earlier. Why?" _

"_Just turn it on!"_

Hayate's tone caused both Takamachis to get a bit concerned. They headed to the television in the living room and turned it on just in time to see a news broadcast covering a story about the earlier sudden transmission override to show the image of what looked like warped clones of the infamous Aces of the TSAB. "Mama… Why are you on a ship with Fate-mama and Aunt Hayate?"

"I'm… not sure…" Nanoha had to sit down. _"Hayate-chan, is this a prank or a trailer for a movie, video game or television show?" _

"_I wish, but apparently there are people that look like you, Fate-chan and myself and they kidnapped Yuuno-kun and apparently declared war on Chrono-kun and everyone that serves under him!" _

Nanoha felt an uneasy feeling in her stomach on hearing that her childhood friend was in the clutches of potentially hostile mages. _"Yuuno-kun? Is he okay?" _

"_We don't know. The only reason that we even know he was kidnapped was because Chrono-kun asked them what they were going to do with Yuuno-kun. They said that they weren't giving him back after they promised to burn Mid-Childa to the ground if they got here!" _

"…_Does Fate-chan know?" _

"_I…I'm not sure."_ Hayate admitted after a pause.

"Mama?" Nanoha looked up just before Vivio grabbed her into a hug. "It'll be okay, mama." She smiled at her mother. "Yuuno-sensei will be fine. He won't let those bad guys burn our home."

Nanoha smiled and returned the hug. "You're right. Thank you, Vivio." No, Yuuno would be fine, but she really wanted to make sure that he was safe, the sooner the better.

"And this time, it'll be okay to blow up the field with Teana if they get here," said the younger Takamachi without missing a beat.

"Nyahaha..."

* * *

"Ugh... this is certainly a much longer supply list than I anticipated," muttered Yuuno as he went through everything once more. "All these new parts to repair navigation and communication functions alone... and then there's fuel, food and-"

"What is it?" asked Material-S as the Librarian came to a sudden pause.

"I was just wondering that since your Linker Cores are vastly different, do you still get some sort of value by consuming regular food? Does it at least partially restore mana in your bodies?"

"It's not very effective in mana replenishment compared to the consumption of other Linker Cores," explained the Nanoha replica in a straightforward manner. "The mana we absorb directly from Linker Cores instantly restores our energy and it seems to contribute to our hygiene as well."

"I guess that makes sense since your Linker Cores don't have actual mana generators. But I guess I better make sure I get enough food for four people to last for a good while..." A thought came to him. "You mentioned earlier that you never really thought about clothes. Is it because you constantly maintained your barrier jackets?"

Material-S nodded. "That's correct."

He frowned upon hearing that. "That's no good. Barrier jackets still require mana to maintain. I'll have to add clothes to the supply list."

That caught the attention of Material-D who had been resting in the co-pilot's seat. "Hmmm... I have given some thought to what type of wardrobe I would like. Perhaps something made out of the finest silk..."

"Uh... no," replied Yuuno in a flat tone. "I don't have a bottomless purse on me and I have to spend funds on getting other supplies too. I'll probably only get one casual outfit for each of you for now."

She immediately turned away upon hearing that. "Hmph!"

"Please cease your rude behaviour, Material-D. We should be thanking Yuuno-san for his generous offer."

"Call me 'Your Majesty'," grumbled the Hayate replica in response to her friend's scolding.

"Ah, it's okay. You saved us from those weird mages earlier and patched up my burn so this is the least I can do to help," commented the librarian. He sat down in the pilot's seat and started tapping into some systems. "Computer, search for the nearest inhabited world from our current position."

**"Working..."**

"Just as soon as I get our bearings straight, we can go for a supply run at the nearest world and..." Another pause before he turned to the Nanoha replica. "... I have to figure out what to do with you three. Do you have any place to go?"

"Nowhere in particular. If not for our need to devour Linker Cores on a regular basis, we would have been searching for a suitable world to start my Kingdom," said Material-D in a simple tone.

'So they just wander around space with no place to really call a home... maybe the reason why they're so violent and dangerous is because of no sense of stability?' Yuuno pondered on this situation and wondered if he should bring them back to Mid-Childa. With the resources of the Infinity Library, maybe he can shed some light on this mystery. "How would you like to come with me?"

"Eh?"

"I'm planning on returning to my home on Mid-Childa. You can come back with me if you want." Honestly, there were a lot of risks involved if he brought them back. The military would love to have additional mages join their ranks... that is if the science division doesn't get their way to probe, test and dissect the trio to find out what made them tick.

"That's… a very generous offer, Yuuno-san..." The prospect of being able to settle down after 15 (or was it 16?) years of wandering the cosmos definitely had some appeal to her. She wondered what type of new life she could build for herself. The possibilities were endless. And it was all thanks to this man that she could even entertain the thought of living a new life.

To be honest, he had been occupying more of her thoughts recently for some odd reason she couldn't put her finger on. Just what was it that made her want to know more about him? Seikou knew earlier that he had chosen not to touch her, even when her body needed to get mana. She had overheard what Yami had said earlier about that Nasuvian method and had privately resigned herself to that fate but her purity had remained intact. If any other male were in the situation he had been in, they most likely would have taken her with reckless abandon.

She decided to ponder more on that later as right now, she had to give a proper answer to him. "I would very much like to see your world." Once she had a chance to see what it was like, then she would properly decide.

Similar to Material-S, Material-D was also giving it some thought. "Hmm... would your home world's government terribly mind if I forced their political system to change into a monarchy headed by myself?"

"What type of question is that?" Before Yuuno could try and talk that idea out of the Hayate replica's head, the computer chirped once.

**"Search complete. Nearest world is Non-administrated world #19: Mercadia. Estimated time of arrival is thirty four minutes at current speed."**

'Mercadia? If that's the closest world, the travel time from there to Mid-Childa would be a week.' After some quick number crunching, Yuuno looked at the final estimate for all the supplies and gulped. 'That's a lot of money... and this is only in Mid-Childan credits too!'

* * *

Fate T. Harlaown stretched as she finally got out of her ship. Weeks of living and working in a cramped space after dealing with that last mission had taken a toll on her both physically and mentally. The only thing she wanted to do was go to her home, take a shower, get a change of clothes and just take a long nap for the rest of the day. Sure, she was scheduled to leave again in a few days once the resupply of her vessel was completed but at least she could feel like a human again for a little while. Although right now, it seemed that she was feeling the opposite with a lot of citizens giving her some odd looks.

'Why are they looking at me like that?' The blonde looked down to check her wardrobe and saw that her clothes didn't suddenly burst apart in some areas. She did make a mental note to go shopping for some new clothes. Especially some new bras as her old ones were feeling just a bit tight. As she made her plans to shop and meet up with friends and family while on her little vacation, she came across a large outdoor television which was broadcasting a news story about… Renegade Aces?

'…Nanoha? Hayate? Wait a second… I don't have blue hair.' What the heck was going on? 'Wait, Yuuno's there?' Her eyes widened as the declaration was played again. Hearing the voice of Nanoha like that chilled her heart. '…This is not good.' She wondered if maybe she could convince her superiors to let her go on a search and rescue mission. After all, Yuuno was one of her best friends who helped her a great deal in the past, starting with her trial.

First, she would need to speak with Nanoha and Hayate. She was almost certain that they'd want to get in on any sort of rescue attempt of Yuuno.

The question was… Where were those badly done clones?

* * *

**"Landing sequence complete. System shutdown in progress."** After hearing the engine finally die down, Yuuno secured the systems.

"Alright and that should do it." He had been in a rather good mood after finding out the current rate of exchange for Mercadian silver. As it fell just recently, his estimated spending amount in Mid-Childan credits fell as well. "Time to hit the Mercadian Market!"

"Yay! I can't wait to try their chicken!" shouted Material-L, freshly awakened from her nap.

"Eh...?" Since when did they want to come?

"The quicker we do this, the faster we can be on our way. I would rather not stay on this dull planet for too long," muttered Material-D as she got out of the chair and stretched her wings a bit.

"Um..."

"Agreed." Material-S was just about to depart the ship when Yuuno quickly noticed her lack of attire aside from his jacket and pulled her back.

"Wait, what are you doing? Are you going to go out like that?"

She merely gave him a puzzled look. "Yes. Is there a problem?"

"... er... actually, I was hoping you could stay behind and watch the ship. Dunno if there are any bandits around!" The Librarian mentally patted himself on the back for coming up with a good reasonable explanation to keep her out of sight. "And you shouldn't move around too much since you're still feeling a little under the weather."

The confusion cleared from the Nanoha replica's face. "I see. But you mentioned something about acquiring clothing for each of us. We should all be present if we are to be fitted properly, correct?"

"Uh... we'll just take your measurements to the tailor and pick an outfit for you!" He nervously turned to the other two replicas. "Can you...?"

"Why would I want to partake in such a menial task? It's more suited for a peon like yourself." And with that, Material-D walked out of the ship.

As for Material-L... "Chicken chicken chicken! Lovely, lovely chic-" It was all he heard as she bounced out as well, leaving Material-S and Yuuno alone.

"I better take this off if you are to get accurate measurements."

All he could do was gulp nervously as his eyes were once again treated to the naked form of the Nanoha replica.

* * *

"Yuu-nii, watch out!"

The Librarian heard Material-L's warning in time just to avoid a white robed cyclist recklessly biking through the crowded market place. "Whoa! That was close!"

"You've been spacing out like this since we left the ship! What's wrong with your head, you peon?" shouted Material-D.

"Uh..." Best not to answer that question. Especially when his mind kept wandering back to the image of that naked female body that he felt up earlier. At least he got those measurements for her three sizes somehow... after ten minutes of fumbles and gawking.

"I'm gonna zap that guy for being so mean!" Material-L put down the boxes containing the equipment Yuuno needed for his repairs and started preparing a spell when Yuuno quickly shoved a drumstick into her hand from the takeout chicken bag he had bought earlier.

"No zapping! Please?"

"Kay!" Her mood instantly shifted from angry to happy as she munched on the drumstick without a care in the world.

'That was close...' Most of the items from the supply run had been purchased with the last thing to get being casual wear for the three Materials. He put down the grocery bags he had been carrying and reached into his pocket to get the map that had been available for new visitors from the information kiosk. "If this map of the market area is correct, then we should be near the clothing merchant section."

"Yami-chan, where are you going?"

Yuuno looked up to see that Material-D was already examining the merchandise of one stand, run by a young girl with purple hair and golden eyes. "Welcome, welcome! How can I help you today?"

"Hm... what is the finest outfit that you have-"

"Oi, I told you that I don't have a bottomless purse already!" The Hayate replica merely huffed while the Librarian turned to the young girl running the stall and quickly explained his shopping needs. "Uh, I'm just looking for some casual wear and shoes for my three friends."

"Three?"

"I have a third companion feeling a little under the weather so I'm shopping for her as well. I got all the proper measurements..." Yeah, like his brain would ever let him forget the numbers for her bust, waist and hips.

The girl grinned after hearing that. "Alright then! Let Miss Isis work her magic for ya!"


	6. Enter the Intrepid Tailor

For the past thirty or so minutes, Yuuno had been sitting back against a chair just inside the clothing stall as he waited for Isis to get done measuring both Material-L and Material-D. Really, he couldn't believe the situation he was in. Travelling with weird-looking versions of three of his best childhood friends that had to devour Linker Cores to survive… it was rather unreal.

'Wait a second...' His eyes narrowed as his mind backtracked to that last thought. 'Sucking on Linker Cores to survive... that sounds like the corrupted version of Reinforce...' He refused to call her the "Book of Darkness", especially after she sacrificed herself to keep Hayate safe. It had been a long time since he had thought about that event which introduced him to the Wolkenritter, Hayate and Reinforce.

After all was said and done, they were good friends with each other, despite how they started. And if he was going to tackle this particular puzzle, that was the most likely place to start. Most of the aspects of the Materials seemed to line up with what he recalled about the Book. What kind of link would he find there… assuming that there's even one at all?

The sound of a curtain being pulled back snapped the Librarian out of his thoughts. "Ta da!" shouted Isis, looking extremely pleased with herself, as she stepped to the side. "Sorry for taking so long but check out the new looks of your friends!"

First out was Yami, who was wearing some ankle boots, stockings that went from her feet up her legs and disappeared under the dress, which was blue-green with white trim on the ends. She had a corset of the same color over her body with a white shirt underneath it. He was slightly surprised by the cute little collar… no, it looked like more of a choker around her neck. She had red bracelets which hung slightly loose on her wrists and in her hands was a folded up fan. 'Wow…'

"Hmph!" Yami noticed the look of the young man and narrowed her eyes at him. "Do you find this outfit distasteful?"

"No! It's... quite nice." Yuuno was relieved as Yami's mood seemed to pick right up.

"Yes, I thought that it was appropriate for me, though I wish it were a touch more regal." She glanced at Isis, who shook her head.

"It would be too expensive, and I'm trying to help him stay within his budget, remember?" Isis still had that same smile on her face. It seemed that she was used to this.

Yuuno shook his head slightly and gawked as Rai bounced out of the changing area. "Hey, Yuu-nii!" She was wearing a pair of light purple leather pants and a jacket which was only partially zipped, allowing her navel and quite a bit of cleavage to be exposed. Her device was on a silver chain and rested in the valley between her breasts. "I don't know about the pants, they're a bit stiff." Rai pouted as she bounced a bit more, causing more distractions by the movements of her breasts.

"You just need to settle into them." Isis rolled her eyes as Rai turned around to look at herself in the mirror and nearly fell over laughing as Yuuno went bug-eyed as he saw how tight the pants were on Rai's shapely rear. Oh, gods, this was priceless. Not that she blamed him as there were men _and_ women stopping to stare at Rai's rear in those tight pants. "Now then, might I have the measurements for the last one?"

Yuuno nodded and handed Isis a slip of paper. As she looked at it, Isis frowned, before sighing. "Please don't tell me that this is all you got from her."

"Um… There's more?" Yuuno was rather confused as he had thought those measurements were sufficient enough to put together an appropriate outfit.

"I need to know her height, her shoulder width, how long her legs are, her arms, her inseams!" With each word, Isis took a step forward before she was poking him in the chest. "There are a lot of variables that need to be covered before I can just give her clothes." She then sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Sorry, I forgot that you're a guy."

"What's that supposed to mean?" That sounded rather insulting.

She shook her head. "It's just that you wouldn't know the problems that women have with clothes shopping. Look, I'll make it easy for you." She smirked as she grabbed some measuring tapes. "Just take me to where she is, and I'll measure her and get her an outfit."

"I want chicken!" Rai pouted and crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them dangerously up to the jacket's opening which almost allowed for a glimpse of nipples. "And I wanna look around!"

"Hmm… It might be a good idea to do some shopping while we wait for Material-S to get some clothes on." Yami looked around and snapped open the fan with the flick of her wrist before using it to gently move the air around her face. "Come along now, servant."

Before he could respond, Isis tugged on his hair, forcing him to bend down slightly so she could speak to his ear directly. "They were both naked after cancelling their barrier jackets. Is this… Material S naked as well?"

Yuuno blushed slightly and shook his head as she let go of his hair. "Not entirely. She has my jacket on but that's it."

Isis shook her head. "It wouldn't be the first time I helped give someone clothes when they were wearing so little, and it probably won't be the last time. Just go shopping with them and I'll help that last friend of yours." Isis pushed Yuuno away so that he would chase after the other two Materials before she sighed and grabbed up bundles of various clothes and blinked. "Ah, dammit! Hey, wait!" She yelled at Yuuno, who was a bit further away and unable to hear her which caused her to have to run after him. "I forgot to ask where she is!"

* * *

After dropping Isis off at the ship along with all those clothes, and their items, the shopping trip resumed for a few more hours with the trio browsing around the markets to check for whatever other things they needed. As it was a busy time of the day, there were points when Yuuno found himself separated from Rai and Yami so it had been quite hectic but once things started calming down a bit, he managed to get back with them without any problems. With the day more or less winding down to a close, the trio started making their way back to the ship. "So where did you two go earlier?"

"I spotted something interesting. This lovely little red pendant," said Yami as she held up a triangular shaped red gem attached to a silver chain for Yuuno to see.

"It looks pretty fancy and expensive. I hope you didn't spend an arm and a leg for it," mumbled the Librarian as he grimaced at the thought of how much it may have cost.

"Of course not! She still has all her arms and legs attached to her body!" exclaimed Material-L cheerfully. "Actually, we used someone else's arm and leg!"

"… please tell me you are joking." Then again, with the Materials the way they are, he could easily believe that story.

"To clarify what she said, the pendant was a token of gratitude after she broke the arm and leg of a shoplifter in the area. That mongrel was lucky to get off with that much as I personally would have preferred to incinerate him," said Material-D without missing a beat.

"I came in right on time like a superhero!" chirped the Fate replica.

"Eh? She wasn't with you the whole time?"

Yami merely shrugged. "She wandered off on her own for a bit while I was browsing the market. I didn't see her until she caught that thief."

Yuuno glanced at the blue haired woman. "And just where did you go, Rai-chan?"

She shrugged at the question. "There was this really neat old shop and I wanted to see what was inside and there were lots of neat books."

"You like reading?" Maybe he could get her to calm down if he gave her a bunch of books. Lord knows how many he has back at the Library.

"THERE SHE IS!" An angry male voice spoke up before Rai could speak and Yuuno, Rai and Yami found themselves surrounded by several angry men, all of them glaring and holding various weapons and pointing them at the three. "Now, missy, you might be a sight from the gods for our eyes, but stealing is just wrong!"

Rai pouted as Yuuno looked at her. "What did you do?"

"Those meanies said that they stole it first."

"I told you! We acquired it completely legally from some ship wreckage!" The first man yelled at her.

"But then you said that you may or may not have made the ship blow up on purpose." Rai grinned at him. "Besides, you said that you couldn't use it either and… OOOH! Shiny!" Rai zipped over near one of the men, knocking him down as she picked up a coin that was on the ground. "Yuu-nii! Can I keep it?"

"That's it! Get'em!" The angry mob moved in to attack Yami and Yuuno, only to crash into Yuuno's barriers.

"Ah, good. Now that they're disoriented, one incineration spell should do-" Yami didn't have a chance to finish as the Librarian grabbed her and yanked Rai along by latching on to her arm before making a run for it. "Hey! Let go of me, you brute!"

"Sorry but right now, I'd rather not injure them if I could help it. Besides, that would just get us into hot water with the local law enforcement group and I'm pretty sure that innocent people could get caught in the crossfire," explained the male in between breaths as he ran.

"So what? We can just claim self-defense!"

"Maybe but are you really eager to waste mana killing off these scum, Your Majesty?" When in doubt, appeal to that huge ego of hers.

"Hmph! Fine!" Yami glanced back and raised an eyebrow. "They are persistent, I'll give them that." After a few more moments of running, Yami managed to get her arm free of Yuuno's grasp and floated into the air. "We can move faster flying."

"Oooh! Is it a race?" Rai grinned as she took off into the air towards the ship. "See you there!"

Yuuno was a bit hesitant on just taking off like that simply because he had been too used to not flying in the various civilized worlds since there were usually laws in place to stop people from flying all over the place. But in this case, he would make an exception as now would be a good time to get the hell out of there.

"Dammit!" The men below yelled before their leader smacked one of them.

"Stop gawking and chase after them!"

* * *

Isis sighed as she finally got Seikou, that was a rather nice name in her opinion, into her outfit. The short-haired woman was now wearing a heavily modified red cheongsam which had no sleeves and had two side slits running along the long dress which gave room for her legs. There were two openings in the upper part of the red cheongsam, one which was just above her breasts to show off a little cleavage and the other just below to expose only a small area around her navel. For footwear, the older woman chose to go with the brown boots which reached up to just below her knees which she found comfortable along with a pair of red fingerless gloves for her only accessory. "Hm... what do you think?"

"This is most acceptable. Thank you," replied Seikou softly.

"Don't mention-" Isis paused when she heard the commotion outside. The minute she reached the ship's door to check out what was happening, Material-L crashed into her. "Um… Normally I'd be flattered that someone decided to tackle me, but what's with the flying?" Isis blinked as Yami and finally Yuuno flew into the ship, only to stop and stare, bug-eyed, his jaw going slack, as he saw Seikou, who blushed slightly.

"What is going on?" asked Material-S, who managed to stay focused.

"It seems that Material-L was an idiot and stole something and now we've got idiots after us," replied the Hayate replica.

"Why didn't you just blow them up?" Seikou asked, knowing it was that simple to get away from someone, after all, if they were out cold or dead they couldn't chase you.

Yami glared at Yuuno. "I _would_ have, but _someone_ decided that it would be a good idea to run." She quickly resumed fanning herself to cool herself down from the previous chase.

"When there aren't civilians around who will get hurt if we start a fight, I'll let you blow them up, okay?" Yuuno grumbled while catching his breath. It definitely wasn't fun being chased down like a dog. "Anyway, we should get out of here." He moved over to the main cockpit and quickly unlocked the systems.

"Hey, wait a sec…AHHH!" Isis yelled as the ship suddenly started up and departed the surface. "My shop's still back there!" She pouted as Yuuno looked at her, in surprise. "I was waiting for you to pay me, now you kidnapped me."

"Um… Sorry?" He chuckled nervously as the former shopkeeper started looking worried.

"Now what am I going to do?"

"If you're interested, you can take on the position of being my Royal Tailor," said Material-D without missing a beat, not even noticing the simultaneous looks from the others and Yuuno's subtle groan.

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?" As the ship started gaining altitude, Yuuno let out a small sigh, relieved that things were going to settle down. However, this did not last long as he saw the light of an energy weapon zip by their vessel. Not wanting to take any chances, he immediately synchronized with the mage-interface and put up a protective barrier in time just before the ship shook slightly. "Computer, report!"

"**Minor damage to port hull. Receiving incoming transmission."**

"Open a channel!" He suddenly heard the voice of those men that they had confronted earlier.

"ARRR! Give us back the booty!" He heard the leader of that group of merchants yell at him over the com system. "And maybe the booty of the thief and we'll let you all go!"

Sitting against the wall, Isis whimpered. "This isn't fair. I just wanted to be a normal merchant, not dealing with crazy illegal and stolen things. I don't even like to fight if I can help it." She could fight if she had to, but that didn't mean that she liked it. "I'm just a tailor and all my stuff is down on the ground." Upon remembering her merchandise, her golden eyes immediately regained their energy. "Hey, hey… Can you pick up my stuff?"

"A little busy here!" Yunno winced as the ship was rocked by another blast. "Damn… how many ships do they have?" A quick glance at the control display showed three vessels with another two on their way. Looks like getting out of here was going to be a major hassle and he didn't have the time to properly compute a mass teleportation for the ship to immediately escape into outer space.

"We haven't entered space yet, have we?" asked Material-D.

"What? No! We haven't even broken the stratosphere yet!" replied Yuuno.

The Hayate replica nodded. "Ah, good. In that case, I won't have to spend extra energy maintaining a zero-gravity aura then." In a flash, she changed back to her Barrier Jacket with a purple book tucked underneath her left arm and a purple version of _Schwertkreuz_ held in her right hand. "Open the hatch and I'll deal with these mongrels quickly. And do not forget to pick up my tailor's goods!"

"Um… I haven't technically agreed to the position," murmured Isis weakly.

Yuuno would have said something but he decided to hold his tongue and go with this plan. "Alright. Rai, get the door for Yami."

"Call me 'Your Majesty'!" shouted Material-D just as the door was opened for her and she took flight. Rai then moved to shut the door just as Yuuno saw multiple smaller energy bolts originating from their end collide with enemy fire up ahead to nullify their shots.

"A short ranged spell?"

"Yersinia Dagger if I'm not mistaken," replied Material-S from the side in response to his earlier question.

He shook his head, trying to focus on what needed to be done. "Let's not waste too much time," commented the Librarian as he directed the vessel to swoop down around the market they visited earlier. "Where was it..?"

"There!" Isis pointed to a small stall. "Just get the clothes out of there. I can get a new stall later." As she was always on the move, she didn't carry a lot but she liked having a selection on hand at all times.

"Right." Yuuno brought the ship to a stop and stepped back into the cargo area before he conjured up a green Mid-Childan circle for a teleportation spell. "Got them." His eyes opened, just in time for the clothes to drop on him and Isis.

"Avalanche!" Rai giggled as Yuuno and Isis disappeared under clothes. "Does this mean I don't have to go to school today?"

He quickly pushed himself out of the pile and back to the pilot seat before synchronizing with the interface again. 'Now to pick up Yami and get out of here.'

The flight lasted for only a moment and he could see that only two enemy vessels were remaining while there were no signs of the other three although a quick look at the sensors would show bits of debris littering the planet's surface. He could make out the Hayate replica, who easily evaded enemy fire before she moved back and raised her staff, aiming the purple cross at the remaining vessels. A lengthy chain made out of blue magical energy flew towards them and circled the both of them repeatedly until they were caught within a giant sphere. Then she let off one final large energy blast to incinerate the ships.

"Ooh, fireworks!" exclaimed Material-L while Yuuno looked on in horror.

'They were disabled already! Did she have to go that far?' He didn't even notice the hatch open behind him thanks to Material-S allowing for Material-D to enter. She was panting and sweating heavily as she dropped her Barrier Jacket.

"… che… can't believe the Arondight and Doom Bringer combo took that much out of me!"

"You should rest now, Material-D."

"Call me… 'Your Majesty'!" said the Hayate replica in between breaths.

"Wait, Your Majesty. Answer me something," said Yuuno as he turned around with a frown on his face. "Did you have to go that far and destroy them when they clearly couldn't pursue us after your binding spell?"

"They… forfeited their lives the… moment they chose to point their weapons at me," growled the Lord of Darkness just before she went to the back to lie down.

"Uh…" Isis wasn't sure what to make of this sudden tense atmosphere. "What should we do next?"

"Let's just get out of here first and find a place where I can start working on repairs." Because right now, his mind needed to focus on something else.

* * *

It had been a long day but it seemed that things were starting to settle down. Shi was more than rattled after dealing with the sheer number of calls all day but somehow, they managed to ride out this particular storm.

But it appeared that another one was brewing right in front of Yaz's eyes just as he went to make his final report of the day… in the form of one drunken Admiral who was stumbling around inside his office with wine bottle in hand. "Ah, good old wine, you won't betray me, will you? No… Your sweet taste, it can't betray me, nope."

"How did this happen? The Admiral knows better than to drink while on duty."

"Technically, he is off duty," replied the Chief Medical Officer who was sorting his own report into the pile on Chrono's desk.

"Uh… correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Admiral marry his wife after they got drunk drinking too much wine?" At least, that was what he had heard.

"The wine will NEVER betray me! It won't blow me up like Nanoha. It won't make me blush like my sister… it won't get pregnant like my wife. No, you won't betray me…" Chrono giggled and rubbed the bottle of wine, almost seductively. "No, even the doctor said that drinking you is a good thing! Yes… Pressure is too much, doctor said it was good."

A twitch developed on the younger commander's face. "Wait a second… you authorized this, Doc?"

"Well, his stress hormones are heavily present throughout his bloodstream. As a medicinal belt, I prescribed him something that can easily get him intoxicated and forget about the demands of his position. He was reluctant to take it first so I had to order him to get drunk after I added a little something extra to that secret wine he stashed in here," said the other man.

That twitch only got worse. "You ordered him to get drunk?"

"I simply exercised my authority as Chief Medical Officer. As the highest person ranked when it comes to health matters, I observed that he was in great need of a reprieve. Although I admit that I should have kept an eye on the amount of alcohol he was ingesting and limited how much he was allowed."

"NEVER!" It was the last thing Chrono shouted before finally passing out on the floor.

"What type of quack doctor are you?" And more importantly, how the hell did someone like him keep his TSAB Commission in the first place?

"While my methods may be unorthodox, they do produce results. Just look at Admiral Leti. Previously, she wasn't properly achieving work-life balance. But a bit of therapy with me and she's now one happy bugger!"

Yaz wasn't certain what their Chief Medical Officer did in the past with the other Admiral but he made a note to himself to keep Admiral Leti away from Admiral Harlaown during off-duty hours.

* * *

"My, my… what a mess!" Isis started going about sorting through the huge pile while Material-D rested on the bed. By her side was Material-S, cooling her down with a paper fan like a loyal servant.

"Hm… a bit slower, Material-S."

"…" If it weren't for her friend being in this condition, she would have simply walked out of the room. However, being the polite person that she is, she merely did her best to comply with the demands of the bedridden Lord of Darkness.

"You're still doing it wrong," complained the Hayate replica. "Maybe I should get the peon in here to cool me down."

A frown crossed the face of the Nanoha replica. "Yuuno-san's busy enough working on the repairs of this vessel. That takes priority."

"Hmph…" She glanced over at Isis who just kept going through the clothes and sorted them out so easily and quickly by size and type.

"Hey… since when did this get torn?" The former shopkeeper held up a pink tunic that had a hole in the area which covered the left armpit. She sighed before digging out her sewing kit from her bag, buried just under the money she earned from the day's sales including the three outfits to the Materials. "Guess I gotta mend it."

Material-D noticed the activity from her bed and as Isis started to get to work, a feeling of familiarity washed over the Hayate replica. For a moment, she could see the best approach to patch up the shirt, leaving no trace of new stitch marks. It was almost like she could see herself stitching but instead of a shirt, she was fixing up some red hat… with dead looking bunnies?

"_So what do you think?" _

_There was an awkward pause from the tiny redhead as she tried the new hat on. "It's… uh, how do I say it?" _

"_Come on, be honest!" _

_The redhead squirmed a bit more before managing to get out a shaky smile. "It's… a nice hat! Comfortable too!" _

"_I'm glad you like!"_

"W-what was that?" hissed Yami under her breath before she saw herself again at a sink, peeling potatoes from a chair and talking to… a floating Book?

"_What's up, B- - -ness? If you do that you'll get wet!"_

"It's called a fan, 'Your Majesty'," droned Material-S beside her.

"No! I just saw… I saw myself doing… common household chores!"

"Really? In that case, I will consult with Yuuno-san on how to properly treat a delirious patient," said the Nanoha replica in that polite monotone of hers.

"I'm not hallucinating!" shouted Material-D firmly. "I was actually doing domestic tasks like cooking and sewing! And I was actually good at them!"

Isis couldn't help but butt in after that last remark. "You don't seem like the type of person who would be willing to learn how to cook and sew in the first place."

"I'm not! I have other important things that I want to learn! Like running a kingdom for instance! Somehow… it was like the knowledge had always been there but only triggered when I saw you at your work!"

"Knowledge that triggers…?" Seikou gave it some thought before a memory of her own triggered and she saw herself in a kitchen mixing something in a bowl.

"_Like this?" _

"_Maybe a bit lighter," replied a warm older male voice behind her. "If that pancake is going to cook properly, then we have to be careful when handling the batter-"_

"…!" Material-S glanced at her gloved hands and could easily imagine them taking grip of a frying pan to whip up an edible dish. "How…?"

"That's what I want to know," grumbled the Hayate replica before she fell back on the bed again.

* * *

"Okay… this last connection should get navigation up and running. I hope to God this works," grunted Yuuno from underneath the console.

"What did you say?" asked Material-L in an eerily calm tone. "I hope to…?"

Startled at the sudden shift in tone, he said that word again. "God?"

"In this world, God doesn't exist," said the Fate replica in a serious tone from her spot in the empty pilot's seat.

"Really? So what do you believe in?" replied the Librarian, curious to hear what type of religious beliefs are held by the Materials.

"There is only one truth. This universe here, our universe… it all came from one man. Masaki Tsuzuki. AND IT BLOWS!" screeched Rai.

"Huh?"

"It started off well enough. Season one sets up a lot of stuff and grows the beard. Season two's regarded as an awesome sequel, which is probably why the game where we came from was based after that. Season three's a mixed bag and where the decay began. I don't even know what the hell's going on with the latest two manga titles! And don't get me started on the movie! Biggest waste of special effects since the 98 Godzilla film!"

Okay, she was now starting to scare him. "Um…"

"I betcha some of the decay's due to putting in more Les Yay in each season! If you want maximum Les Yay, there's stuff like Aoi Hana or Saki! Almost seems like Tsuzuki can't even develop a proper character without making them gay for someone! But what pisses me off is when you see someone who by all means should be serving in a main or major character capacity getting the Shaft! The dreaded Demotion Stick!"

"… say wha?"

"It happened to you, Yuu-nii!" shouted Material-L as she got right up in his face. "You never got a chance to show what you're really capable of! Your career is skyrocketing just as fast as Nuke-chan and who gets all the attention? She does, just because she has nuke magic to make stuff go boom and you don't! So what? You could have been a Chessmaster and have the Big Bad dancing to your tune! You had the brains and the resources to pull it off! But nooooooo! You get cut out of things simply because Schoolgirl Lesbians were to dominate the show!"

"Um, maybe you should just-"

"And what's probably his biggest crime of all? Giving ME the big shaft in my debut appearance! Seikou-chan and Yami-chan get their own CG… hell, Yami-chan gets two! What do I get? SQUAT! Instead of being an SNK boss fight against the original girl I came from in her story mode, I get demoted to a mid-boss fight and placed in other story modes like Little Miss Gundam and Knight of the Lethal Chefs! And to top off how degrading all of this is, I get piss poor voice acting in the game! You figure that someone like Nana Mizuki can figure out how to properly portray the Crazy Awesome that is me but I just sound like a total moron!"

"RAI!"

Material-L finally stopped her rant and looked at the weary Yuuno. "Yes, Yuu-nii?"

"Just what are you talking about earlier? Nothing made any sense!"

"Eh…? I think I was talking about…" She thought about it and thought about it some more before she came to an answer. "I think I was talking about how… I want to save the world by kicking someone in the crotch?"

He blinked a few times before finally shaking his head, opting to purge her rant from his memory for the time being. "… just push the big yellow button to turn on the navigation system."

"Kay!"

"You guys getting ready to set a course?" asked Isis as she poked her head in from the back.

"Yeah. I'm planning on heading to Mid-Childa. I can give you a ride if you wish as an apology for what happened earlier," said Yuuno.

"Mid? Not exactly the place where I want to end up being that it's a big pain to set up shop there with how strict the processes are for small business owners. Anywhere else along the way?"

"Let me see," muttered the Librarian as he checked possible routes. "I see an Administrated World that's on the way. World #23: Ruwella. Based on my calculations, it'll be a 2-3 day trip at current speeds."

"Sounds good to me! Drop me off there and I'll consider your apology accepted!"


	7. Revelations plus Einhart vs Puberty

For Nanoha Takamachi, the past two days had been a blur.

For starters, a bit of investigation revealed that Yuuno had been scheduled to make an emergency business trip earlier in the month, shortly before the academic year for the local university he taught at was to begin. Details on the trip were apparently classified as it was related to a Lost Logia case and she didn't have the proper clearance to access the information so she ended up turning to her friends for help.

Chrono hadn't been able to get back to her as he had his hands full with meeting after meeting regarding this new threat. Fate had some better luck as she was just assigned to that case and was able to get her hands on a brief profile. However, the information request regarding Yuuno's link to the case was filed at the end of a long queue of other requests, meaning that it could be a while before a response would be sent back to the Enforcer. As for Hayate, she was in the process of being eased into her new role of the Bureau's Marine Defense Force Investigation Commander but once she had the reins, she would have access to all details about that case since it fell under her jurisdiction. But she seemed a bit more concerned about her Unison Device, who had been acting oddly since the image of those clones was broadcasted all over the planet.

It had been the lunch topic of the day when they all met up for a bite to eat. But before they could be seated at the restaurant, Hayate received a call from the head of the precision engineering section, who looked over Rein to find out the cause of her odd behaviour.

"Why did you call all of us here, Mariel?" The minute she stepped into Mariel's lab, Hayate felt a small body try to bury itself into her chest. "Rein, what's wrong?" She rubbed the little device's back, wondering what happened to make the Unison Device so upset.

"It took me the last couple of days to run the Deep System Scan for Rein here. I had to call Shari in as an extra pair of eyes to go over the code and we still almost missed what I found out," exclaimed the older woman in a tired tone.

"Mariel, calm down. You're not making sense," said Fate gently.

"If Shari hadn't suggested we look at all the system data that had been transferred to Rein from the original Reinforce, we would have never found out what we were looking for." Mariel took a moment to take off her glasses and rub her weary eyes. "Still, I think I might have found a clue on these… 'Materials'."

That got their full attention, though Hayate was still rubbing a sobbing Rein on her back. "What is it?" Nanoha asked.

"Do you three remember when you fought against the corrupted protection program of the original Reinforce?" When the three nodded in confirmation, Mariel continued on. "Do you remember what happened to the remains of the protection program that were in the ocean?"

"I remember that my brother was going to send in a clean-up crew, but the body disappeared before they could get there." Fate had a thoughtful look on her face as she tried to remember everything. "I think it disappeared when we sealed Reinforce up at that time."

"Not quite." Mariel shook her head. "It's true that the body disappeared on the same day but I'm certain that it was gone hours before Reinforce asked you to seal her away."

"So…" Hayate trailed off, getting a bad feeling. "What does that mean?"

"I can't say for certain and I know that it's a bit premature… but from digging around in Rein these last couple of days, it's the only thing that makes sense."

"What are you saying?" Nanoha was getting scared now as Mariel shook her head. "Tell us, please!"

Taking a deep breath, Mariel closed her eyes for a brief moment and mentally prepared herself to deliver the news. "The protection program triggered a self preservation mechanism. From the information I gathered, it's likely that the protection program became aware of Reinforce's choice to seal herself away and jumped back to the remains in the ocean before reformatting them into the Materials that we saw earlier."

"But…" Fate couldn't believe what she was hearing. "How do you know for sure…?"

"The original administration program had downloaded all the system logs to Rein here. If the original defense program had been sealed, there would have been a log entry that indicated the time and date of deletion." She looked at Hayate right in the eye. "We checked every inch of Rein and found nothing. There are no entries recorded that confirm the deletion of the defense program."

"That means… Reinforce sacrificed herself for nothing…" Hayate trailed off, tears welling up in her eyes, before she looked down and saw Reinforce Zwei hugging her harder, crying even more. "Shh… It's not your fault, Rein, you didn't know." It hurt Hayate to know that the original Reinforce had been sealed away for no reason, but it hurt more to see the sorrowful look on Rein's face as she cried. "Shhh… Shhh… it's okay, Rein… it's okay."

* * *

Yuuno found himself groaning a little when he stirred from his slumber and felt an odd gentle tingling in his head along with someone's hand pressed against his left cheek. "…_die Streicheleinheit… bis zum Ende der Zeit_…"

"…eh?" He managed to raise his sleepy head, noticing that his body had slumped over Material-D's bedside. 'Must have fallen asleep while taking Yami's vital signs…'

"Y-you're awake? How much did you hear?" asked the Hayate replica in a somewhat panicked tone. As he turned to look at her, he could clearly see that she had been the one touching his face somewhat affectionately.

"Uh… something about 'until the end of time…?'" Yuuno only heard a last bit of whatever Belkan she had been mumbling. He wondered if Seikou heard anything too but he saw that she was asleep in one of the makeshift hammocks he set up for everyone.

"It was kinda cute!" exclaimed Isis, who popped her head in from the pilot's area while Material-L hovered just behind. "She was stroking your face like a lover and saying some mushy stuff in another language!"

"Really? What was Yami-chan saying?" asked the blue haired woman.

"First, call me 'your majesty'!" Material-D paused a moment to catch her breath. "And second, it was an informal ceremony to swear him in as a member of my court. That is all. So don't get any wrong ideas or it'll be off with your head!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Isis before turning to the Fate replica. "Come on, Rai. Let's get back to that hand clapping game you wanted to…"

She was interrupted by the chirping of the computer. **"Attention. Estimated time of arrival to destination is two minutes."**

"Isis, get your stuff ready. I'll start up landing procedures as soon as we get into orbit," said Yuuno as he moved from his spot.

"I hear ya!"

Throughout the bustle of activity on the ship while it landed, Yami was thankful that her energy levels were sufficient enough to slip the aura enchantment into that man's head. Whether she could maintain it is another question. If anything, it looked like she would be the first to test whether it was working well or not.

"Thanks for the ride, Yuuno."

The Librarian shook his head as he helped move her goods off the vessel. "It's no problem. I should be thanking you for not being upset with me from earlier."

"Ah, stuff happens. Oh! By the way…" She chuckled softly and gave the male a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Don't go and let your girlfriends ruin those clothes, especially if they get a bit rough with you."

"They're not my girlfriends." Still, even with the way she was, she wasn't a bad sort at least. The past couple of days had been nice with her around. "Well, good luck getting some new clients."

Isis giggled a little. "Well, as long as I don't have more people show up with weirdo girlfriends and people chasing after them, I should be just fine!"

* * *

Touma sneezed and cursed slightly as he rolled out of the way from an overhead strike from Nove. "Ack!"

"What's wrong, Touma?" Nove tilted her head and waited for him to get back into stance. "You asked me to help you train." Actually, it was more like Einhart dragged him with her so that he would have something to do, since traveling abroad right now was too dangerous, and she decided to 'help' him with his combat training.

The fact that Nove would get to feel up Touma's body whenever she made contact with him was just a nice bonus.

It wasn't like she took over training from Einhart so that her daughter/younger sister would stop feeling up Touma. Nope, she just wanted to make sure that he was trained properly.

As for Touma himself? Well, he tended to blush a lot after training with Nove and Einhart for some reason, not that he'd tell them since they may get the wrong idea.

"Nothing really. I just thought something weird and ironic was going to happen to me."

Nove wasn't sure how to respond to that so she decided to change the topic. "Look, Touma…"

"Huh?" He blinked as the short redhead sighed softly. "What?"

"You're going to leave soon, huh?" When he blinked, she smiled at him softly, walked up to him and hugged him, pushing his face against her chest, since he was sitting on the ground. "Look, if you do leave, at least leave a note."

"But…" He mumbled and got quiet as Nove just held him. "Nove…? He asked, looking up at her as she looked at him, slightly sad.

"I know you're going to leave us. You didn't want us and dad to worry about you, but could you wait at least another week?" When he nodded, she smiled and knelt down, kissing him on the cheek. "Thanks."

Touma's cheeks turned red but he smiled at his older sister figure. "Will you tell them?"

Nove shook her head. "No. I care for you too, Touma. So just be careful, otherwise Subaru will have a breakdown on us." The thought of that made the young boy wince. He figured that she must be under a lot of pressure from her job if she wasn't acting so energetically as before. Hopefully, all she needed was some extended leave, perhaps a year or more.

"I'll be careful."

"Good." Nove smiled and let him go. "Come on, you can do better than that." She helped him up, before slapping his butt.

"HEY!"

"You're leaving your backside exposed," said the redhead in a teasing tone.

* * *

After dropping Isis off and taking off into space again, Yuuno blinked as something came to him. "Okay, Rai…" Yuuno looked at the Fate replica who blinked at him in confusion. "What was it that you stole back there on Mercadia?"

"Stole what?" She tried to pull off an innocent look but it was obvious he wasn't buying it. When he held out his hand, she pouted at him and walked over to a corner of the ship to pull out a book she had hidden before handing it to him.

Yuuno blinked in surprise since all he could see was a simple blue book, although this one was rather heavy for its size. The only thing that it had that was different from normal books was a square metal clasp with a swirling mark on it. Grabbing the clasp, he was surprised that he couldn't open it. "What the…?"

"_Incompatible user."_

Yuuno blinked once as he heard the book talk. For him, it wasn't that unusual. "Incompatible?"

"_Incompatible user. Will wait for a compatible user."_

The square clasp glowed before he found his hand being forcefully pushed hand away. "What the heck?"

"It did the same to me, Yuu-nii…" Rai pouted as Yuuno shook his head and sighed.

"For now, just put it back, I'll think of something later." He looked at her and shook his head. "So, why'd you steal it if you couldn't access it?"

She shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time?"

"Ugh…" Deciding not to put too much thought on it now, he tried fiddling around with the communications systems again from his spot in the pilot's seat. He had spent pretty much all day yesterday getting that together and figured that he would be able to make the proper repairs easily. Then he could give Chrono a call just to let him know what happened.

The funny thing is that no matter what he did, he couldn't establish a stable subspace signal to transmit his message. He was certain that he did all the repairs correctly and that he bought the compatible equipment. For crying out loud, this thing cost him nearly a full week's pay check! But still nothing. It was another mystery for him to solve… when Material-S and Material-D weren't requiring him to be around.

Their conditions were both starting to deteriorate. They had pretty much slept through most of the previous day. While their fever hadn't reached the extreme fatigued state he had seen Material-S in earlier, it wasn't going away so easily even with proper fluids, nutrition and rest.

"Yuu-nii?"

"Hm?" He was surprised by the sudden hug from behind and gesture of affection from the Fate replica.

"Don't get sick too, okay? Please? I want to see everybody happy and healthy as we go travelling across the universe, discovering new people and aliens… and finding out how much of a mess they make when they bleed!"

He mentally erased that last bit while patting Material-L's hand gently. "I won't get sick, Rai-chan. Here, I'll even do one of those pinky promises," replied Yuuno as he held out his right pinkie.

In an instant, her own pinky finger had intertwined with his and a brilliant smile was on her face. "I'm gonna hold you to that!"

"Heh… you know, you never did finish telling me that story about the most fun you ever had when you and the others were kids." He needed to take her mind off things and getting her to finish the story she started the previous day while he was working on repairs and checking in on the other two Materials should do just the trick.

"Well… where was I in that story?"

"Something about going after a huge mana battery being used to create a Dragon Whelp Nest?"

* * *

"Based on the information that I've received from the Admiral and the engine schematics of the BUS, I've extrapolated the most likely routes of travel." A diagram of dimensional space came up along with several projected flight paths for the meeting's multiple attendants to see which consisted of the three Aces, Chrono, Admiral Leti Lowran, First Lieutenant Signum and Second Lieutenant Vita. "There's only a fixed amount of supplies left on the ship and since they have to split it among more people, they'll be forced to replenish at some point. But this is assuming that they intend to come to Mid-Childa."

"I'm certain that they'll be coming, Yaz. I saw it in their eyes," said Chrono. "They'll be hungry for my blood."

"It won't be just your blood they're after," said Hayate from her spot on the conference table. "They'll be targeting everyone who fought against the Corrupted Protection Program fifteen years ago. You, me, Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan and my Knights."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Signum in a puzzled tone. "Do these replicas have some sort of link with those events?"

"Mariel told us that these 'Materials' are the remnants of the protection program," replied Nanoha.

This definitely caught the attention of the two Ancient Belkan Knights. "Are you serious? How is this possible?" asked Vita in pure disbelief and shock.

"The program jumped back to its remains after Reinforce chose to seal herself away and reformed itself into the three Materials before quietly vanishing from our sights. We just let it slip past us back then!" It was rare for Fate to show this level of frustration but considering the implications, nobody could blame her.

"… permission to be excused," whispered the Knight of the Iron Hammer in a coarse tone before she rushed her way out of the meeting.

"Signum, please go after her and make sure she doesn't bust up Chrono's ship."

"Yes, Mistress."

Hayate merely gave a small sad smile as Signum departed after Vita. "In a sense, whatever atrocities they may have committed will become our responsibility. Our negligence was what caused this situation to come this far."

Noticing how quickly the mood was deteriorating, Leti attempted to try and salvage the meeting. "Well, you couldn't have known back then! All the reasonable precautions were being taken!"

"But it wasn't _enough_," stressed Nanoha. Then a horrible thought came to her mind. "Wait a minute… Yuuno-kun was involved in that fight too! And they have him in their clutches!"

"He wasn't directly attacking though! He and Arf were just binding the program down so we could get clear shots at it!" But now, even Fate was worried for the Librarian's well being. After all, it didn't look like the Materials wouldn't care much who they manage to get their hands on first as long as they got all of them.

"Chrono-kun, you have to let us search for him!"

He shook his head. "I can't let you do that, Nanoha. I need all of you here to prepare the defenses when these Materials do arrive. I'll send out search parties among the possible routes highlighted by Yaz to look out for his ship. They'll all have an extraction team ready to be deployed so they can get him out safely."

"But-!"

"You took an oath when you chose to wear that uniform, Captain Takamachi," said Admiral Harlaown with just a hint of steel in his tone. "Your first priority is to protect the well-being of the citizens. Is that clear?"

There was a tense pause until she finally yielded with a barely audible "Yes, sir."

He really wished he didn't have to pull that on her but he had his own priorities. "Alright, everybody… we all have our assignments. With everybody pulling their weight and a little luck, we can prevent this from escalating any further. Dismissed."

The Aces shuffled out of the room but not before Fate shot her brother a disappointed look which he managed to ignore. Yaz was the next to leave after packing up his presentation materials which left just Leti and Chrono in the conference room. "You know, Lindy probably would have been able to talk some sense into Nanoha. Make her understand."

"I'm not my mother. She has her command methods and I have mine," said the male Harlaown in a sharp tone before getting up from his chair to head back to the bridge, leaving the other Admiral alone in the dark.

* * *

_Nothing…_

Vita couldn't keep the tears from forming in her eyes as that word ran through her head. _Nothing…_

Back then, Reinforce said that the Protection Program could come back to corrupt her again and make her hurt Hayate. It was why she chose to seal herself in the first place. In the end…

_It was all for nothing…_

Vita closed her eyes, tears falling freely from them as she punched a nearby door. "All for nothing? It can't be!" She screamed, her small body trembling in anger. "How could it? She gave her life to save us, all of us, and it was for nothing?" She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Signum looking at her, her comrade's eyes hidden by her hair bangs. "Signum…"

"You are a knight, Vita, one who is sworn to uphold your duty to your master at all times and keep your composure." Signum's voice was soft, almost monotone, causing Vita to hiccup a few times as she tried to stop herself from crying anymore. "However…" She lifted her head up, and Vita could see tears forming in her eyes. "It is appropriate to cry, in this instance."

Trembling, Vita suddenly hugged Signum and cried into her abdomen. She couldn't help it, she needed to vent somehow, and she just couldn't hold it in anymore.

It helped when Signum was rubbing her back and feeling the same emotions she was.

When they recovered from this, neither would bring it up again and would deny it if anyone said anything, but for now, it was a time of mourning of a fallen comrade, one who fell senselessly.

They would deal with these "Materials" at a later time, when their heads were clearer.

* * *

Looking at Material-D as she lay on the only bed, Yuuno wondered just what he was going to do. He knew that the Materials were dangerous, and pretty self-serving, and yet…

Yami shifted slightly and opened her eyes to look at him. Her face was rather calm even though it was a bit flushed from her fever. "What are you looking at?" asked the Lord of Darkness, her voice soft and curious.

"Just someone who can't get out of bed right now."

"Whose fault is that?" asked the Hayate replica in a disgruntled tone before she slumped against the bed, noticing that the occupant of the hammock on the other side was nowhere to be found. "Where's Material-S?"

"She's watching over things at the front and keeping an eye on Rai."

She nodded once before groaning once as she felt herself reaching her limit. "Can you help me?"

He blinked a few times as he looked at her closely. At the moment, all of her previous arrogance was gone and underneath it all was a rather… nervous and timid looking girl in her place. "Yami?"

"I don't like asking for help… but you helped Material-S, so help me… Please…?"

Yuuno wasn't sure if he was mentally ready to go through that mana transfer process again since it scared the life out of him the last time he directly interfaced with Seikou's Linker Core. Of course, there was that other option…

'No, I can't do… can't do…' Whatever voice that was in his head that firmly rejected the notion of doing **that** seemed to grow a lot quieter until it was smothered, leaving only his desire to help her recover from her condition. After hearing her ask him for help like that, he couldn't turn away. 'I guess… doing that can't really hurt, right?'

Even as he started getting undressed, he couldn't shake that nagging feeling in the back of his head…

* * *

Einhart Stratos ignored the sweat that was rolling down her body as she continued working with the heavy weights in the Nakajima's mini-gym. But even as her body worked, her mind was elsewhere. Heck, she didn't even protest when Nove took over Touma's combat training.

Ever since she saw the images of those women on the TV that got everyone in an uproar, a part of her realized that this was the beginning of the end. The peace would be shattered and those three mages would bring about a new darkness to this world that would dwarf that of Ancient Belka.

She was terrified of what possibilities lay in store should those women reach Mid-Childa but at the same time, she was somewhat excited for this opportunity for she saw this as a chance for redemption. She would do what her ancestor could not and protect everything she held dear with her fists. If she could do that, then the ghosts that haunted her lineage could be put to rest and she could look towards the future.

After her last repetition, she replaced the barbell and took the towel next to her to wipe off the sweat. As she headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water, she saw Touma limping in from the backyard. "Touma-kun?"

"Oh… hey, Einhart… looking good as always… ow…" He moved his body in the nearest chair by the kitchen table so he could rest.

She briefly blushed from his little compliment on her appearance before clearing her throat to regain composure. "I see that Nove-sensei's working you hard," commented Einhart softly.

"Yeah. Strike Arts is pretty hardcore," said the boy while he slowly caught his breath.

"Perhaps but it's not as intense when compared to Kaiser Arts." She took a seat right next to Touma as he laughed a little.

"Heh… I guess…"

"I could show you sometime." She looked at him closely, getting a blush from him. "It is… very intense and we'd have to be even closer."

Touma blushed as images came to his mind before shaking his head as Einhart tilted her head to look at him curiously. "Ah, um, sure… just let me recover first."

"Of course. Tomorrow then?"

"Uh… yeah, sounds good." He chuckled nervously as she bowed politely towards him and left the kitchen. For some weird reason, he felt that he was doomed, and not just from the butt-kicking he was probably going to endure.

As for the descendent of the Hegemon of Shutra, while she was pleased that Touma was interested in seeing her Art, she wished she didn't have to resort to that just to get him to spend more time with her. 'Using Kaiser Arts just to get closer to a boy… my ancestors must be spinning in their graves now. Accursed hormones…!'

Welcome to puberty, Einhart Stratos.

* * *

"You look like you had fun," said Material-S in her usual tone as she saw Yuuno and Yami enter the small cockpit. The male looked quite tired, compared to when she saw him last an hour and a half ago. As for Material-D, she was looking far healthier than before.

"That's none of your business. But, yes, it was enjoyable…" She smirked at Seikou and stretched. "I haven't felt this energized in a long while."

"I see." Seikou glanced at the Librarian. "I will need energy soon as well…"

Yuuno shook his head and readjusted his glasses. "I don't think that I can help anymore for today. At least wait until-" The ship suddenly rocked slightly, causing him to stumble forward a little, before coming to a stop. "What just happened?"

"I don't know, Yuu-nii. Suddenly the controls went 'WHEE!' and started glowing red before flying off into another direction." Rai crossed her arms and pouted as she wanted to be the one to make the ship glow red and go off in random directions. It wasn't fair!

"This isn't a good thing, Rai." Yuuno glanced at the display before he sighed. "Looks like one of the engines blew a fuse or something. I'll have to prepare an emergency landing."

"Okay!" Rai grinned as she got up and dragged Yami aside while Yuuno worked. "Hey, Yami-chan!"

"Call me 'Your Majesty'," grumbled Material-D before giving the Fate replica her attention. "What do you want?"

Material-L grinned at her. "Yuu-nii's nice, huh?" When the Hayate replica didn't react at all to her question, Rai pouted and crossed her arms. "You're no fun."

Yami ignored her and took a seat before she whipped out her fan, allowing her to conceal her pleased smile from the others. That had been rather enjoyable and it was likely that she would need to do it again. Plus it was good to confirm that so far, the spell held nicely to make it easier for him to overcome whatever self-constraints he put on himself. But she needed to confirm the extent of the spell's influence over his normal thinking patterns and that means studying his behavior after he has treated Seikou and Rai.

She hoped it wouldn't be too much of a mess. After all, he was probably the only person who genuinely addressed her as royalty previously and she would hate to lose such a valuable subject of her kingdom.


	8. Obligatory Hot Springs Episode

After seeing the information relayed to him by the diagnosis performed by the computer, Yuuno found himself extremely glad he had an engineering team install a failsafe component in the engine to activate in the event of dimensional slipstream failure. If it hadn't been for that, the ship would have been knocked out of slipstream in an unstable manner and sent into a dangerous freefall.

'Still, how the heck could an engine failure occur? The check up two weeks ago confirmed that everything was in tip top shape!' He mentally sighed to himself as he wasn't in the mood for another mystery to keep him up late at night.

The good news was that the normal engines were still functioning. Of course that meant that they would have to make another emergency stop at the closest world for repairs and get additional supplies to make up for the lost time on their trip. "Computer, search for the nearest world and display travel time for normal speed."

It only took two seconds to come up with a result. **"Search complete. Travel time to the closest Class M planet is approximately two hours and fifteen minutes at normal speed."**

'That was fast,' thought the Librarian to himself. "Display."

"**Unable to comply. There are no records of Bureau activity on that world. No information is available."**

"For real?" muttered Yuuno under his breath as he suppressed the urge to groan. Without any information on that world's currency, customs and technological ability, he wouldn't be able to determine whether it would be a good place to make an emergency stop. "How far is the closest administrated or non-administrated world from our current position?"

"**Calculating…"**

With any luck, they shouldn't be knocked too far off course. He can probably just swing back to Ruwella and…

"**Closest world is Administrated World # 12: Fedikia. Travel time estimated to be 10 days in dimensional space and 72 days by normal speeds."**

'… shit.' He couldn't believe what his display was telling him.

"How did we get knocked off course by that much?" asked Material-D in disbelief.

Yuuno sighed in irritation. "I wish I knew…"

* * *

'My orders are to stand by? Seriously, what the hell? This blows!'

A fuming Agito floated through the corridors of the Claudia as she waited for Signum to return from that meeting. They had originally been scheduled to start working on the Silver Cross Bible case when a lot of things went out the window the moment those weird looking women were seen everywhere on TV. All of a sudden, meetings were being rescheduled, forces and troops were being moved and a lot of people seem to be acting like the apocalypse is around the corner.

She understood that those women looked like three of the most powerful mages in the TSAB but how can everyone be certain that they are as strong or (God forbid) superior to the three Aces? A lot of people were jumping to conclusions too quickly which is why there had been quite a bit of panic across Mid-Childa shortly after the communication ended.

Things took a while to calm down as multiple press conferences were held someone from the Admiral's ship acting as a representative (some woman called Shi or something) as the Admiral himself kept dealing with fellow brass and didn't have the time to properly run things. She kept getting peppered with questions that made her sweat a lot. But somehow, she managed to convince the population that things were being investigated carefully and that the appropriate measures were being taken.

Still, Agito really wished things would go back to normal soon. This whole tense feeling around the ship and this world was getting on her nerves. Heck, when she tried calling Rein earlier to vent about it, she was surprised by the sheer amount of depression she heard from the other Unison Device's voice when the call was answered. It had been brief as Rein hadn't been in the mood to talk which further bothered her.

The fiery Unison Device rounded a corner and noticed her partner Signum straightening out her uniform jacket while her smaller red headed companion seemed to be rubbing her eyes with her sleeve. "Oh, there you are! Meeting's done?"

"Yes. We just came out not too long ago," replied the pink haired woman.

"Hey, what's with her?" pointed out the small device to Vita who seemed to have finished wiping her eyes.

"Oh, nothing. Things just went a little longer than I thought and I was rubbing my eyes to wake myself up," said the small Knight.

"Heh, it must have been a real boring meeting in there." The Device sighed loudly. "Sheesh, this whole thing is driving me up the wall! I really hope we can do something soon!"

"As do I, Agito. As do I." There was something odd in the way Signum said those words and that only meant one thing as far as Agito could tell. Someone was going to be on the receiving end of Laevatein in the near future and it won't be pretty.

* * *

The landing could have been a lot smoother but for the moment, the ship was on the planet's surface. Now, he could see how bad the damage was.

"Waaahh! Such a pretty place!" Material-L was the first to exit the ship and she stared around at the green sky and oddly coloured blue grass field that acted as their landing site. "Don't you think so, Yuu-nii?"

"Sorry but I can't enjoy the scenery right now when I have something else to work on." He headed to the panel which housed the engine and pushed it aside to look at the circuits. As he thought, the engine casing was showing signs of heavy strain. While he could do normal maintenance by himself, this problem looked like something that be handled by a professional.

"How is it?" asked Material-S as she poked her head out.

The look on Yuuno's face said it all. One look at the engine and it was clear that there was no way he could repair this. Teleporting to the nearest planet that could help was out of the question, mostly because there were limits on how far anyone could go without a stop in-between somewhere. Unless there was someone on this planet that knew how to repair ships, he was stranded.

"Hey! Yuu-nii, Seikou-chan, Yami-chan! Look!" The three turned to Rai as she ripped some bushes out of the ground and pointed to the area right behind it. "Hot springs!"

"… for real? Good grief…" Just how did Material-L do that anyway? After pondering about it for a moment, Yuuno decided the best option was not to think about it so much. Maybe if he was lucky, she would drag in an engineer from the middle of nowhere to help with repairs.

Rai pouted, before crossing her arms. "I can just hear it… the voices of the fan dumb's complaining! Too much fanservice… and no plot. Just like ViVid…" She sighed softly while Yami walked to the edge and felt the temperature with one of her index fingers.

"Hmm… quite a pleasant temperature. It's already an improvement over that small bathtub in your vessel, peon."

"Give me a break… the ship wasn't exactly designed for long-term comfort living," grumbled the Librarian as he went over the engines again, causing Material-D to frown.

"Cease your efforts, servant. Trying to fix things when you are this exhausted will do no good. I order you to strip, get in these springs and relax."

"Isn't it your fault that he's worn out?" Seikou asked Yami, getting a light glare from the shorter woman. "But, yes, you are right. It would be a good idea to stretch our legs out."

"I thought so too." Yami closed her eyes and laid a hand on her chest lightly before turning to Rai. "Now, Material-L, why don't… Material-L?" She blinked as the spot was no longer filled by her blue-haired companion. "Where did she go?"

"Where did who go?" Yuuno asked as he turned away from the engine. He had taken another look at it, to see if there was anything he could do to fix it. The sheer damage just seemed beyond his ability to properly repair.

"Rai seems to have disappeared on us." Seikou was looking around concerned before sighing. "If she gets into trouble, it will be bad."

The Hayate replica shrugged at that. "She knows how to take care of herself." Yami actually thought that Rai was the most dangerous of the three of them; powerful, skilled, fast, strong and totally unpredictable. It was a bad combination for anyone unfortunate enough to be her opponent.

Seikou looked at her, her face as blank as ever but Yami could tell she was upset. Heck, even Yuuno could pick that up and he had only spent a few days with her. "And what if she runs into those enemies back on that world? The ones who were able to shrug off our magic like it was nothing?"

"That… would be bad." Yami conceded the point. "We would all likely die, since none of us are at full ability. But there's no use worrying about it right now. Besides, it's unlikely that they know we're here."

"…This is true." Material-Sshook her head and looked at the springs. "So, shall we bathe then?"

"Hey! Wait!" Yuuno's eyes bugged out as the two stripped down and lowered themselves into the hot springs. 'Am I cursed or blessed…? I wonder…'

"What are you doing standing there? Get out of your clothes and into the spring!"

'Both… definitely both.'

* * *

"Chicken, chicken, chicken… I want some chicken… I want some chicken, chicken, food, blood, blood… mmmmm, some chicken blood would be tasty right now…" Material-L grinned at the thought of grabbing a chicken and making it scream while she bit into it while it was alive. Feeling the blood run down from her lips to her neck would just be pleasing even if it would be messy. She shrugged it off and knocked aside some more debris and trees that got in her way.

The forest was pleasant, green, lush and over-run with vegetation. Rai wasn't sure if there was anyone on this planet or not, but it was pretty at least. The only thing that could make it better is if she had a doggy to run along with her.

She paused for a moment, letting that last thought repeat in her head. There… should be a doggy with her… playful, small and… red?

No, that can't be right. Red's the colour that belongs to Seikou-chan. She needs something more sinister than that. Something monstrous… like what?

As Rai pondered over that thought and continued her sight seeing tour, she blinked as she came across a giant rock. "Oooh! A big and pwetty rock!" She grinned happily as she stroked the smooth surface with her finger until she felt a strip of paper in the way, the first of many. "Seals? Weird…"

With a shrug, she forced the seals off by applying some of her own mana and just as she got the last one done, the rock exploded in front of her. Then a large looming beast emerged from the ground, much to Material-L's delight. "OOOH! Giant three headed lizard doggie! Who's a good doggie, you are! Yes you are!"

The beast, which had three heads, was black in color and it stood on all fours, easily towering over the Fate replica as it growled its challenge. The length of the body was at least the size of two sports cars bumper to bumper.

She giggled and leapt back in time as a gout of flame came from its mouth to torch the ground she had stood on previously. "I bet you taste really good!" Her happy smile turned savage as she summoned Vulnificus and formed her barrier jacket. "Here doggy! Let Rai-chan eat you up!"

"GRAAAWWW!"

* * *

As soon as she heard a clap of thunder in the distance, Material-S tilted her head slightly in that direction. "It seems that Rai has entered battle. Should we investigate?"

"You go if you want! I'm not moving until my back is properly scrubbed!" exclaimed Material-D.

"Uh… are you sure that we shouldn't-"

"No talking, peon! Just keep scrubbing!"

All Yuuno could do was sigh and resume his efforts on cleaning every inch of skin on the Lord of Darkness.

"Lower!" Yami ordered him, getting him to shake his head and do as she ordered. If he wasn't worried about Rai at the moment, he would probably be enjoying this more. It wasn't every day that he got to share a bath with beautiful women… at least not in his human form. Both Yami and Seikou certainly didn't mind his company. Plus, he got a small sense of satisfaction upon noticing Seikou's attempts to… ogle, for lack of a better term, him when she thought he wasn't looking.

He felt even better as Yami seemed to slide closer to him as she sighed softly. "More, peon, you're going too slow!"

"Of course, your majesty." Yuuno smiled as Yami blushed hard. She wouldn't admit it but this was quite pleasing as his touch was rather pleasant on her skin.

* * *

"_Are you sure I'm not being a bother? I mean…_"

"_No, it's okay Shamal. I can understand your need for discussion after hearing what Hayate has discovered about those clones_."

It was rare for the Lady of the Lake to have the afternoon off since she usually was involved in medical research when not seeing patients. Today, she was spending it in one of the local parks where Zafira regularly held his Strike Arts classes.

At the moment, the students were engaged in some katas while the Shielding Guardian Beast would occasionally correct some stances with Shamal watching nearby from one of the park benches.

"_I still can't believe the corrupted Defense Program stayed intact. And that…_"

Zafira knew that this was something she needed to get off her chest properly. And a telepathic conversation probably wouldn't cut it. "Rinaldi, once everybody's done their katas, can you lead the cool down exercises?"

"Yes, sensei!"

He made his way over to the bench and took a seat beside his comrade. "You are not alone in your puzzlement. How did it manage to escape its own destruction from the _Asura_'s Arc-en-Ciel? What was the last piece that slipped by us? And…" He trailed off for a moment.

"What is it?" asked Shamal.

"The way those replicas behaved and their desire for vengeance… is it possible that the Defense Program fragments have evolved from their base programming?" Zafira glanced at the blonde woman. "Instead of continuing on their way to absorb knowledge, spells and technologies and following the objective of the original Book, they chose to return. Why?"

"Do you think… someone managed to become their Master and managed to change their behaviour just by being there for them? Just like with us and Hayate-chan?"

"I wouldn't say Master but I believe there could be a parallel."

* * *

Yuuno wasn't sure if the planet had longer days or what but he had been sitting in the hot springs long enough to start feeling dizzy. He wasn't sure if it was because of the heat or if it's the fact that Material-S and Material-D were sharing the same pool but he did know that it was time to get out of there unless he felt like passing out and drowning. Chancing a glance into the sky, he found that the sun wasn't even half way through the sky, so it was probably still morning at least.

Seikou watched him, not even trying to hide her interest, as he climbed out of the pool. Her face was slightly red as she looked at his naked body from the back and she mentally cursed for not getting a closer look. Yuuno reached for his towel that was on a nearby branch and wiped his body off before wrapping it around his waist. Then he picked up his clothes to go change behind a large boulder much to Seikou's disappointment.

"Hmm, it is a good thing he decided to grab towels and wash cloths from the ship," muttered Yami as she leaned back into the hot spring.

"I'm going to go check on Rai! She's been gone for quite some time," announced Yuuno from behind the rock.

"She's perfectly capable of taking care of herself," replied Material-S from her spot.

"I know that but I'm just worried, you know?"

There was a slight pause before Material-D snorted. "To worry over someone like Material-L… you really are a soft-hearted servant. Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Heh…" He finally emerged, fully dressed. "I'm going to head out in the direction of that thunder clap. Hopefully, I shouldn't be too long. In the mean time, can you stay within the area?"

"Understood," replied the Nanoha replica as she watched Yuuno depart towards the forested area, his footsteps fading away until there was nothing but silence in the air.

That is… until she heard the movements of water behind her. The thing about those movements was that the person was trying to be as quiet as possible and was failing miserably. "Material-D, what were you trying to do?"

As Seikou turned around, she got a view of a horrified Yami who was using her left hand to restrain her right one which was groping for air in an open and closed gesture with the fingers. "Guh…! I… uh…"

It didn't take her long to put two and two together. "Were you intending to grab my breasts?"

The Hayate replica shook her head wildly in denial. "No! I wasn't… uh… this isn't what it looks like!"

"A shame. I was rather disappointed that it didn't happen," said Material-S without even batting an eyelid causing the other woman to lose her balance from overextending and plunge into the hot water.

Gasping as she resurfaced, Yami got up close to Seikou and frowned at her as she stopped just short of their bodies touching. "What the hell, Material-S?"

"I… am not sure why. It was just the first thing that came to my mind." Even the Nanoha replica herself was surprised. Normally she wasn't so blunt but for some reason, she just couldn't stop herself from making that comment. She looked up into the sky while tapping her chin. "Perhaps being so close to Yuuno-san while he was naked has influenced me somehow?"

Material-D sighed and her head slumped down. "Unbelievable, to think that you would talk to royalty in such a manner…" 'And to think that for a brief second, I succumbed to the urge to feel her up like a common pervert!'

* * *

"Rai-chan! Where did you go?" shouted Yuuno as he walked through the forest area. There was something about the atmosphere that rattled him but he couldn't put a finger on it.

In the distance, he could make out some debris. Judging by how much of the scenery had been destroyed, it must have been one big fight. There was a lot of debris everywhere from shattered rocks to fallen trees.

Dammit, he couldn't waste his time like this examining the scenery. A friend could be in trouble. "Rai-chan!"

He was hoping that he would have been glomped on by now with her shouting "Here I am, Yuu-nii!" loudly in his ear. But instead, all he heard was a distorted and disturbing giggle from up ahead. The closer he got, the louder the giggling became in between heavy breathes of air.

After moving his way through, he finally managed to find Material-L who was bleeding in multiple places while her barrier jacket had many tears that exposed her flesh. And speaking of her flesh, that fresh tattoo on her bare left shoulder really stood out to him. Upon closer inspection, it resembled a three-headed dog… Cerberus, if he remembered correctly from reading some of Earth's ancient myths. By her side was her device, somewhat damaged as well. "Hehehehe… I got… I got my doggy! D-doggy…"

"Rai-chan! Hold still while I heal you!" Yuuno moved in closer but as soon as his hand got close to one of her open wounds, her own hand shot up to grab his wrist in a painful grip.

"But… there's something else… that I want. What is it that I want? I want… I want…" The way she was speaking in such a dazed tone was seriously getting on his nerves.

"Rai-chan, let me go! You're…"

"Wait…! I got it! I know what I crave…!"

He never had a chance to figure it out as he got flipped over and landed on his back, knocking the breath out of him. In an instant, Material-L had straddled him and allowed him to see the red eyes that had been hidden by her blue hair bangs. They were the eyes of a berserk predator that had finally caught its prey and was savouring the moment of triumph.

"**IT'S YOU, YUU-NII! !"**


	9. The Lurking Beasts

When Material-L felt her sense of awareness return to her, she noticed that she didn't feel tired. In fact, if anything, she felt more energetic although she was a little sore in some areas. It was rather chilly too since she wasn't wearing anything and was exposed to the elements. The only warmth she could feel was one that spread throughout her abdomen from her groin area.

"What?" She looked at one of her arms and saw the cuts were healing themselves. "Did I get healed when I wasn't looking?" She asked and looked down, her eyes widening at the partially bloodied Yuuno.

"Unnggghhh..." Yuuno couldn't help but groan out loud. Dealing with that berserk side of hers was rather painful.

"Yuu-nii?" He cracked an eye open as he saw the naked woman straddling him. "Oh… Oh no…" Her eyes watered up and she hugged him tightly. "I did something bad, didn't I?"

"Rai… chan?" Sure, he was a little scared of her (scratch that… REALLY scared, especially after what just happened) but right now, she was acting more like a scared girl instead of that… beast. "What…?"

"I'm sorry…" She whimpered as she hugged him more. "I get… urges… hear that deep, dark voice that says to destroy things… Hurt things… People… please don't hate me!"

'What… just happened?' He wasn't sure what to make of this but what he knew for sure was that Material-L seriously needed some professional help. If anything, this seriously reminded him of the time that Seikou's Linker Core lashed out desperately for his energy. Perhaps, the instincts of Rai's Linker Core influenced her which triggered this chain of events.

At least maybe now, she'd actually talk to him more seriously instead of going on insane ramblings. When she just held him and trembled, he carefully held her close. He didn't think that she cared too much about anything, but he decided that if she considered him as one of her precious people, he could live with it.

He just hoped that she wouldn't go into that berserk state again. It was very scary.

* * *

Yami raised an eyebrow as she saw a ship, a rather large vessel, come out of the sky and land on the planet. "Now what?" It had been only ten minutes since she and Seikou had gotten out of the hot springs and had gotten dressed. The ship landed down only a short bit away from where their busted up ship was at.

"Maybe it's some locals coming back from vacation?" Material-S blinked as the outer hatch opened up and a group of about six people exited the ship.

"Reverend, there seems to be some people on this world." A man with feminine features said to another man dressed in a black suit and a white collar around his neck.

"I see that, Bishop." The man nodded, he walked up to Seikou and Yami and smiled. "Welcome to the hot spring planet Tenrei. I'm surprised to see others here as this isn't a world that well known to outsiders which is why we have chosen this location for our first religious retreat."

"It wasn't by choice." Seikou said, ignoring the man as she looked at the ship that he came in. "Impressive ship."

"Isn't it? Our members were generous enough to donate the funds to construct it." The Reverend smiled, very pleased with himself. "Forgive me for not introducing ourselves properly. I am Reverend Maru Kovanich and this is Bishop Patrick Haru. We are the Seekers of Absolute Truth, a religion dedicated to discovering and deciphering the riddles of the universe left behind by the Almighty. Our membership is rather small... just this group right now but we hope to grow as we go along!"

"A truth religion?" Yami raised an eyebrow and wished that Material-L was here now. She could have a field day with these people. "Do go on. What absolute truths do you preach about?"

"There are quite a few that we have discovered so far on our journey but the most prominent one would be this one." The bishop closed his eyes as he seemed to become extremely friendly and happy. "That two women, who raise a child together are obviously a family and in love with each other."

"Indeed, for if one woman lost the one she obviously loved, she would not go and shack up with a man and bear his demon spawn," continued the Reverend.

Seikou blinked and looked at Yami, who was giving them a half-lidded stare. "But, what if the women aren't in love with each other like that?"

The whole group looked at her aghast while the bishop and the reverend had upset looks on their faces. "Are you blind?" Patrick exclaimed and stepped up to the two Materials, shaking a finger at them. "You cannot see the wonder and beauty that is two women? They don't need a man…" He looked at the two of them. "And judging by the two of you, you two are obviously lovers." He ignored the way that Yami blanched and glared at him. "So, you can obviously see where we're coming from."

"While I have no objections to being with her in that fashion, I'd prefer to be with Yuuno-san." Next to her, Yami hid her annoyed face behind her fan as Seikou's blank blue eyes narrowed, slowly examining each and every member of this religious group. "They don't seem to be very strong… may I?"

Material-D's only response was a shrug of indifference. "Go ahead. I'm good for awhile." Then she gave a nasty little smile. "And please take your time."

"Thank you." The Nanoha replica then turned her attention to the Bishop and slowly walked up to him. "You insulted myself, Yami-"

"Call me 'Your Majesty'!"

Seikou ignored her friend's complaint. "...Yuuno-san and Rai at the same time…"

"And what are gullrk!" Patrick Haru's eyes widened as Seikou's hand seemed to disappear into his chest before pulling out a small glowing ball and consuming it. While the bishop's body slumped to the ground, the Nanoha replica's face slightly grimaced in disgust.

"How weak... but I suppose I cannot complain too much when this is all that is available." Seikou shook her head and snapped her fingers while pointing at the rest of the people, binding them all up in very strong and heavy binds. "Too weak to escape those binds?"

"Most likely they let any sort of magical development fade away and dedicated their lives to this 'religion' of theirs," commented Material-D from the side.

"No, no, NOOOO!" Maru screamed as Seikou's eyes glowed brightly.

"By the time our companions return, your ashes will be scattered across this world and there will be nobody else to spread your gospel. That is your absolute truth," hissed Material-S before she plunged her hand into another member's body and consumed that Linker Core. "One down." She seemed to smile slightly as she moved over to the Reverend who gazed defiantly at her.

"You'll go to hell for this!"

"I was in Hell once. Ate the devil and escaped." Seikou then grabbed his Linker Core, getting him to scream in pain before she stuck it into her mouth and swallowed it whole. "Not very much here either. And certainly not very appetizing."

Yami shrugged at that. "Just hurry it up before that peon comes back. He won't like seeing you do this."

"…!" Seikou felt a dull ache in her chest although she wondered if it came from the thought of him witnessing what just happened or if it was just indigestion from the poor Linker Core quality. "… of course."

Material-D looked at the two dead bodies before kicking Patrick on top of the dead reverend. "Make sure to kick them over here when you're done." She smirked as Seikou did, in fact, kick over the dead bodies once she finished with them. Once every dead body was gathered, the Hayate replica held out her free hand and began to chant.

"Source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson, let thy power gather in my hand." Immediately a ball made out of purple flames was summoned in response to her aria and quickly grew in size. "FIREBALL!"

The Nanoha replica blinked in surprise as she saw the spell form. 'That spell… how is she…?' Normally, she wouldn't think twice about Yami using magic but there was something that just nagged at her mind.

The gigantic purple fireball flew from Material-D to engulf the bodies in intense heat, essentially turning the deceased flesh into ashes. Satisfied that had been taken care of, Yami turned towards her companion. "So how are you feeling?"

Deciding to put that aside for now, the red clad woman responded. "The energy those people gave wasn't very much." Material-S sighed and wondered why it was so hard to find people with decent Linker Cores these days. She then saw at the ship that they had come in. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Yami smirked and nodded. "If it means getting out of here, I'm all for it… Plus it looks like it might have more room than the peon's ship."

"Let's get everything out of Yuuno-san's ship and move it over here then."

"What right do you have ordering me around?" Seikou merely ignored the complaint since Yami helped her out anyway.

* * *

Nanoha sighed as she practically paced around her room. She couldn't believe that Chrono had ordered her to not go out there and look for Yuuno personally. How could he stand it? He knows that his friend was in danger so why wasn't he willing to go out and look for Yuuno personally?

"I know how you feel." Fate said, tiredly as she stood by the door. "I'm not happy about it either, but I'm sure that my brother has his reasons."

"Yuuno-kun's our friend, Fate-chan. How can any of us turn a blind eye to him?" Nanoha was practically tearing up. "What if those 'Materials' decide that they don't need him anymore and leave him on some sort of abandoned planet without any supplies? That is… if they don't kill him first." She blinked as she felt Fate hug her. "Fate…chan?"

"Shh… Yuuno will be alright." Fate wasn't sure about that herself. She was worried about him as well, but if she let Nanoha know that, the other woman would likely tear a few heads off and go looking for Yuuno personally.

And that was the last thing any of them needed at that moment.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay, Yuu-nii? Do… do you hate me?" asked Rai quietly as she and Yuuno walked back to the ship with their wounds patched up and their clothing straightened out.

"No, I don't hate you." Honestly, he was taking this a lot better than he expected and he couldn't figure out why. Perhaps the fact that Material-L was genuinely remorseful for what happened back there helped in diffusing whatever ill feelings may have spurred from the incident.

"Are… you afraid?"

"… I won't lie. I was scared back there," said the Librarian in a soft tone before he felt her take his hand into her own.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. I'll get you some help on how to better deal with that deep dark voice that's in there." Yuuno squeezed her hand gently which brought some relief to the Fate replica just as they stepped out into the open to see Material-D directing Material-S in moving their supplies from the BUS to the new and sleek ship that was parked not too far away. He was rather surprised at this, not even fully registering that miniature crater in the ground. "Hey! What is this?"

"Welcome back, Yuuno-san. Welcome back, Rai-chan," said the Nanoha replica in her usual polite and subdued tone as she continued moving things, causing the sole male of the party to get rather concerned.

"Why are you up and about? You're still sick, aren't you?"

"She insisted on getting some exercise, peon. I figure that the moving of equipment from the old ship to the new one would suffice," replied Material-D.

"Which brings me to my next question. Where did this ship come from and why are you moving our stuff into it?" asked the Librarian.

"Wait! Let me guess!" exclaimed the Fate replica as she put on a cute thoughtful look before it came to her. "It's our Mid-Season Upgrade! Wait a sec... That means our series is halfway over? WAAAHHH! I don't want this story to be over until I get to spill the blood of that fanservicey blonde flaming closet case!"

"... Rai-chan's making weird statements again. All's right with the world," droned Yuuno in a flat tone, causing Material-D to give him a strange look before deciding not to ask more about it for now.

"Material-S will explain how we acquired this vessel. But for now, let's move whatever supplies and equipment we can to this new ship," said the Hayate replica as she fanned herself off.

He couldn't really find any fault with that for now. "Sure, I guess..." Both Yuuno and Material-L moved forward to help when the Lord of Darkness quickly grabbed the hand of the Lightning Assailant.

"Before you go help them, I would like to have a private conversation with you if you don't mind."

"Eh?" Just what did Yami-chan want from her? And she sounded... rather serious about this.

* * *

"Whoa... this is bigger than the BUS for sure!" exclaimed Yuuno as he shuffled some goods over to one of the storage cabinets. It was a ship designed for long-term space travel. Living space was a bit tight with six miniature sets of living quarters but it should be adequate.

"The leader of the group we had met said that the construction of this vessel was achieved thanks to the generosity of his members," replied Seikou.

"Group? You mean the one who originally owned this ship? What happened to them?" grunted the Librarian while checking the contents of what appeared to be a first aid kit.

"They belonged to some religion called Seekers of Absolute Truth and intended to use this world to conduct some sort of ritual. They tried to get us to participate but we declined and moved elsewhere so we wouldn't disturb them."

"Never heard of that religion before." He probably knew of dozens of dozens of alien religions and this was the first time he heard of this particular one.

"It was apparently something recently started. In any case, we pretty much moved far enough so that we could still watch the ship while not disturbing their activities. There was a lot of preaching and praying and other things. And after a while... it all suddenly fell silent."

"Silent?" This raised a few alarms in his mind.

"Yes. When we looked back in, all the group members had collapsed on the ground and we saw that they were not breathing. We double checked for life signs but..." She trailed off after that.

"So it was a mass ritual suicide," concluded Yuuno. It was something he didn't see often but some religious cults regularly held such events in order to free themselves from the limits of the flesh and join their Gods as spirits. "I'm glad you didn't get caught up in all that."

"As am I." Seikou was glad that this particular conversation was over. Even though Material-D quickly came up with the story and drilled it into her head while she started moving things, it had been a little difficult telling him that fabrication. For some reason, there was a dull ache in her chest every time she saw him buy a bit more of that.

But it couldn't be helped. It was best that he remained in the dark about what she had to do since he already had a large number of other things to worry about.

"I guess that explains why we have this new ship with us. So that small crater back there...?"

"A light disintegration spell by Yami so that the ashes can be sprinkled among the soil," explained Seikou before she got back to work.

* * *

"Erio, did you finish processing that paperwork for the last poacher you arrested?" Mira Barret glanced at the red haired young man, who seemed to be lost in thought at his workstation. "Erio, wakey wakey!"

"Eh? Oh, sorry Ma'am." He finished keying in a few more strokes before submitting the papers to the shared electronic drive.

"Are you okay? You've been pretty distracted for the past few days." She paused for a moment before turning her attention to the pink haired teenaged girl who was doing some filing next to her. "Come to think of it, I can probably say the same for you, Caro."

"It's… nothing really."

"It's about those weird looking replicas, isn't it?" The older officer couldn't blame her subordinates for being concerned since they were pretty surprised when they caught the news bulletins.

"Honestly, at this point there's nothing that we can do. For now, we'll let the main branch deal with it while we continue our work here," said Caro.

"Well…" Just before Mira could go on, a high priority message caught her eye with the source originating from the Bureau's Marine Defense Force Investigation division. And from the looks of Erio and Caro, it seemed that they received the same message through their respective devices.

The red haired youth's eyes slightly widened as he went through the message. "Transfer orders…"

"... to Special Duty Section Six?" finished the dragon summoner.

"Looks like you'll have a chance to crack this case after all," said Mira with a small smile. "You can take the rest of today off to start packing your bags."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

* * *

"I'm going to keep this as short as possible but first I wish to confirm something," said Material-D. "In the forest, you managed to get proper mana replenishment from the peon, correct?"

A pained look appeared on Material-L's face. "I don't wanna talk about it! I hurt Yuu-nii back there and was afraid he was gonna hate me forever and ever afterwards!"

"But did he hate you? What did he do after... that?"

And with that in mind, Rai's face changed from a pained look to a happier and warm one. "When he held me in the end, that happy feeling spread throughout my body! It's definitely better than bathing in a big pool of blood but only by a tiny bit!"

"Ugh... never mind. Just go help the others," grumbled the Hayate replica, unhappy that she wasn't able to get the response she wanted.

"Kay!"

As the Fate replica bounced back to help Yuuno and Seikou move, Material-D quietly fanned herself while mentally connecting with her Device, Yersinia Kreuz. 'I can't confirm whether her encounter with the peon yielded the result we were looking for.'

_There is still Material-S. You should be able to study the result once that man has undergone the replenishment process with her._

'I just wish there was a better way to confirm the effectiveness of _Bewusstseinserweiterung_ to alter his reasoning and thinking patterns. The initial results are promising... but I need more solid proof that it's working!' She wasn't comfortable with that, waiting for her results.

_You only cast that spell a few days ago. Give it time._

'… no, that's not it…' The waiting wasn't the sole reason behind Material-D's discomfort. There was something else there but she couldn't quite put a finger on it although she knew was that it had something to do with their male companion. While he had been upset with her earlier regarding that skirmish against those pirates on the last world, he diligently tended to her while she had been in weak condition. And while he had been asleep, she had used the opportunity to…

_Then what is it?_

'Nothing. Nothing at all…' Maybe she was looking too much into this but for a split second; she felt a sense of guilt at the thought of taking advantage of her subject.


	10. Formation of Special Duty Section Six

The group ended staying on the planet Tenrei longer than they had expected, mainly because Yuuno had to figure out how the new ship's interfaces worked such as reworking the display language to one he was more familiar with and going through the operator's manual. As there was much to read, he didn't rest properly for the past few nights as he kept reading and working things out.

Although deciphering the language was simple enough, he ran into another problem. The ship's systems were locked with command passwords. Thankfully, Material-D and Material-S managed to get a few primary ones open, mostly by guessing on words related to that girl love thing the Reverend had been preaching about earlier. "I managed to get this one unlocked, peon."

"Thanks. I'll get to it once I finish over here." The Librarian's attention was focused solely on the displays in front of him that were showing him engine schematics. "Let's see... where's that fuel mileage number again?"

"You're welcome." The Hayate replica took out her fan to cool herself off and glanced out the ship's window where Material-L was playing outside with her brand new dog summon. Rai was trying to get her new dog to do some tricks but was having little success. Obviously because of the way it stared at her in annoyance while she tried to get the dog to follow her example of rolling over in the ground.

"Yami, can you please call Rai in for lunch?" asked Seikou from the side as she took out the day's rations and started dividing them up into equal portions for four people.

"Call me 'Your Majesty'!" grumbled Yami before she headed to the hatch to get Material-L. Once the Fate replica got word that lunch was being served, she dismissed her summon and zipped inside the ship past a bewildered Lord of Darkness.

"FOOD!"

"Goodness... I have never seen you this hungry except for chicken!" Material-S passed on one plate to Rai while another plate went to Yuuno who accepted it quietly before heading back to work.

"I know!" As she plowed into her meal, Yami quietly connected with her device.

'Both yesterday and today, Material-L has brought out that summon of hers. Something like that would normally cost her an extraordinary amount of mana and drain her to the point where she would be starving for Linker Cores. But yet, her energy levels have remained stable.'

_Well? Don't you have something to say to me?_

Yami ignored the smug tone of her Device while keeping an eye on the feasting Rai. 'Okay, so you were right on that regard. And I myself feel a bit stronger than before despite not consuming Linker Cores or taking additional mana from that peasant in the past few days. What next?'

_As things stand, the first injection has worked to create a foundation for your internal mana generators inside your Linker Core. It can now convert standard nutrients from the food you consume into units of mana. Of course, another injection would most likely improve the conversion rate._

'I see. I'll keep that in mind.' Just as Material-D disconnected herself from her Device, she heard Yuuno shout out in triumph.

"I got it! I finally figured out how to fly this thing!"

His outburst was followed by mocking applause coming from the Lord of Darkness. "Bravo, peon. That only took you... what? Forty something odd hours to do?"

Even as Material-S frowned in disapproval at her friend's wicked tongue, it didn't bother the Librarian at all. "Say what you will but if I interpreted the engine specs correctly, it's gonna be a smooth three day trip to Mid-Childa from here! Ah, I can't wait to get back to my old office! And I want to see Nanoha and the others again!"

Seikou's sharp hearing picked up on that name that he just said. For some reason, she was curious to know more about that name but that can wait for a moment. "Only three days?"

"I know!" exclaimed Yuuno with the excitement of returning home reflecting in his tired eyes, due to the small amount of sleep he had gotten while working on the ship. "These guys were using an X-3 Xros Virsago Drive as their primary means of propulsion! Far more powerful than what I had back on my old ship! Once we get off this planet, there should be no problems getting back home!"

That was when Material-L perked up from her clean plate. "Ooh, poor choice of words there, Yuu-nii. Now the universe has an obligation to throw everything including the kitchen sink to mess things up for you."

"Oh, come on! Stop joking around, Rai-chan!" laughed the blonde male. "This is going to work. It... it has to..."

The Fate replica shrugged, not even picking up the sudden fatigue in Yuuno's tone during that last bit. "Don't say I didn't warn you..."

The only response she got was Yuuno drifting off and slumping in his seat. "It... has... to..."

* * *

"Whoaaaa... they really renovated this place! Look at it, Tea!"

The orange haired enforcer merely sighed in irritation at her friend's antics upon stepping into this place again after four and a half years. She could understand the whole nostalgia thing but still... "Subaru, would you please act more professional? You are a Sergeant for crying out loud!"

"Aw, come on! Don't tell me you're not curious about how they spruced up the old HQ!" exclaimed Subaru in her usual energetic tone.

"That can wait until after the meeting! Let's go or we're going to be late!" growled Teana as she walked on and saw the small crowd gathering near the area ahead. As the duo arrived, they spotted many familiar faces in the crowd. Senior officers such as Nanoha, Fate, Signum and Vita were present along with former members of Riot Force Six like Alto, Vice and Griffith. A few new faces did pop up though such as...

"Gin-nee? And everybody else too...!" Indeed, all of the other Nakajima sisters had blended in with the crowd.

"Yo!" greeted Nove casually as Subaru and Teana made their way through.

"You all got orders to transfer to Special Duty Section Six as well?" asked Teana.

"It was Yagami-san who made the arrangements," said Cinque. "The fact that N2R and some of Battalion 108 have been transferred to this unit means that she is really taking this threat seriously."

"Speaking of transfers, Erio and Caro will be joining us too, right Gin-nee?"

Ginga nodded. "They're on their way from Supools as we speak although I do recall that they intended to make a detour to Carnaaji to recruit Lutecia. Commander Yagami's working to pull some strings and temporarily lift her sentence while the threat is still at large."

All of a sudden, the small chitter chatter began to die down as Hayate Yagami, dressed in a blue military uniform complete with a dress shirt, tie, jacket and skirt, came into view of everybody and stepped up to the podium to face the crowd. She was accompanied by a tiny silver haired Unison Device dressed in the same uniform as well except the one thing that most people noticed was that the little one wasn't looking like the cheerful energetic being they all remembered. "Hello everyone. It's good to see that everybody's healthy and I wish that we had reunited under better circumstances however we have a powerful threat on the horizon and it's our mission to ensure that they never set foot on our home." She paused for a moment. "First, I would like to clear up any misconceptions that are out there, beginning with this one."

A presentation screen popped up behind to show off the images of the three women who had broadcasted themselves all over Mid-Childa a few days ago before playing back a part of the clip. **"...You will never get Yuuno-san back. I will never allow someone who has such kindness in him to work for such evil people. You had best hope, for your sake, Evil Admiral, that we never meet in person, for I shall not hold anything back."** While that played on, Teana noticed Nanoha's sudden shift in posture out of the corner of her eye. The Captain's eyes were as hard as steel while one of her hands was rubbing against the pendant form of Raising Heart... as if itching to let loose on the enemy.

"The accusation that was just thrown at Admiral Harlaown has absolutely no basis. This is most likely a tactic to throw the public into confusion. Sadly to say that it worked and regardless of the press conferences we held to clear Chrono's name, there are still those who want these allegations thoroughly investigated. If any one of you is contacted by a member of the media, please do not comment on the situation as the position of the Bureau has already been clarified," said the Commander. "The next misconception I would like to address is the assumption that these 'Materials'-"

"Wait a sec. 'Materials'?" asked Vice in a puzzled tone.

"It was how they identified themselves along with a title so for now, we will be labelling them as 'Materials'," explained another male voice in the crowd.

"Thank you, Verossa." Hayate waited a moment to get her train of thought back on track. "As I was saying before, there has been a misconception that the 'Materials' are more powerful than myself, Captain Takamachi and Enforcer Harlaown. We cannot confirm or deny this so we are operating under the assumption that they are equal in power to ourselves. However due to the fact that they don't have Limiters and are openly hostile to members of the Bureau, it is highly recommended that none of you take on any of them alone." When no one said anything, she continued on. "As it stands, with the imminent threat of these 'Materials' and the threat that they pose to Mid-childa, we have been taking the time to move several prisoners that have been on world to other penal colonies until this threat has passed."

"Why prisoners?" Wendi asked, confused as to why they would bother moving such people off world.

"A precaution to say the least. If they were to free all the prisoners to create havoc, it would divide our forces even further to their advantage."

Wendi nodded at Hayate, before frowning slightly. "What about civilians?"

"We're going to make sure that the civilians are kept out of this." Hayate leaned against the podium. "The rest of the Bureau agrees with me in that these 'Materials' must be kept off planet if possible. Fortunately for us, we're going to have some additional help from the Saint Church."

And on cue, three new females popped up behind Hayate by phasing through the ground. "Ta-da! No need to fear! Cute Church Knight Sein-chan is here!"

"Was that really necessary?" asked the girl hanging on her left arm in a quiet tone.

"We had to make a splashy entrance, Otto! That's the way we show style! Showmanship!" Sein turned to the other girl hanging on her right arm. "Don't you agree, Deed?"

The nun merely shrugged indifferently while Hayate giggled. "As you can see, these three will be acting as the liaisons between us and the Saint Church. Please welcome Sein, Otto and Deed to Special Duty Section Six!"

* * *

Yuuno groaned once as the sleep that had claimed him due to exhaustion started to leave him. He found that he had been moved to one of the small quarters in the back. And another thing… he felt a female body snuggled up against him. Judging by the way she was clinging on to him, it must be Material-L.

"How long was I out for?"

"Sixteen hours," replied the polite tone of Material-S who had been sitting right beside his bed on a small stool.

"Sixteen hours? Huh… I guess I must have been more tired than I thought," chuckled the Librarian while stroking Rai's blue hair. "So we've taken off, I presume?"

"Yes. Yami is keeping an eye on regular ship functions. And as you can see, Rai wanted to take a nap with you."

"I see." He paused for a moment, letting the peace and quiet settle in before he thought of something. "You know… we never did get a chance to have a proper conversation and get to know each other."

"What would you want to know about us?" asked Seikou in that tone of hers.

A part of him pondered whether he should start poking around the possibility of a connection with the Book and Reinforce but decided that he could work up to that point once they seemed more comfortable and open with his questions. "For starters, what life was like for you in the past? Rai told me a few stories but it's… kinda hard to interpret when she adds in all these sound effects like 'WHOOSH!' and 'Zap! Zap!'"

A faint smile appeared on her features. "I see."

His eyes glanced at the seated Nanoha replica. "And the thing is that lately, I've been acting somewhat selfish for the past while. All this time, I only thought about getting myself back home when I haven't even considered what would happen to you three if you were to try and enter Mid-Childa."

"Just what do you think would happen?"

Yuuno leaned back into his pillow while he thought about it. "I can think of a number of outcomes and most of them aren't exactly nice ones. This is why I need to know a bit more about your background. I have a few connections that I can use. After I have put together a proper citizen's application and a background case for the three of you, I can use my network and make sure that case is read by non-biased and reasonable authorities. Once the review is complete, hopefully you can get full citizenship and start a new life of stability rather than just drifting from one world to the next without any sort of certainty for the future."

"You would… do all that for us?" asked Seikou, with just a hint of astonishment in her tone.

"Of course," replied the young man with a small smile. "What type of friend would I be if I didn't do everything I can to help you?"

There it was… that warm feeling again. She rather liked this warmth but she couldn't let herself get distracted. "I will do my best to answer whatever questions you may have but I request that you answer my questions as well. I myself am curious about your world, the type of life you have there and the company you keep." If anything, she at least needed to know more about the person he mentioned back on Tenrei.

"Huwwahh?" All this conversation had finally shaken Material-L out of her slumber. "W-what's going on?"

"Nothing really. Yuuno-san has agreed to answer some questions that I have," replied Seikou to the yawning Rai.

"Questions? Ooh! I got one that I really need answering!" exclaimed the Fate replica in an excited tone as she took the Librarian's face with her palms and forced him to look at her.

"And what would that be?" He can only imagine what she would perceive as important.

"What do you think of the name Kero-chan?"

There was an uncomfortable pause before Yuuno answered. "I certainly hope that's not going to be my new name."

"Of course not! Yuu-nii is Yuu-nii!" said Rai with a weird sparkle in her red eyes.

"Uh… in that case, it's a good name."

The rather deadpan answer from Yuuno was enough to get the blue haired woman all excited in that she scrambled out of the bed, inadvertently kneeing him in the stomach while she rushed out of the room to head towards the command centre. "Yami-chan! Yuu-nii agrees with me! Kero-chan is a good name for my doggy!"

"DAMMIT, CALL ME 'YOUR MAJESTY'!" roared Material-D in the background.

Seikou shook her head as he coughed. "She has been… rather excited about that summon beast of hers." Seikou still wasn't sure how she could summon such a thing, but she just ignored it. When it came to Material-L, it was always easier to ignore the weirder things that she did.

"I get that." Yuuno coughed and rubbed his gut. "Damn, she's strong."

"Indeed." Seikou nodded to him. "So, how about a trade?" When he raised an eyebrow at her, she shifted in her seat, mostly to get a bit more comfortable. "You ask a question, I answer. I ask you a question, you answer. Fair enough?"

"Alright." Yuuno took a moment to think of his first question. "Where are you three from originally?" Hopefully that could give him some information on just who could get their hands on the Aces' DNA and clone them.

"I… Am not sure. Yami said that her first memories were in a forest, near a large mansion and surrounded by cats. Rai-chan said that she was at a shrine of sorts. A dog was licking her face until she scared it away. As for myself, I was at a beach by the ocean." Now it was her turn again. "Have you always gone out searching weird burial sites?"

"Most of my life. One of my first digs ended up more trouble than it should have been, but I'm glad it did…" Seikou's eyes seemed to respond to his answer, but she stayed quiet as Yuuno thought about his next question. "So, if your first memories were by a beach, when did you meet Rai-chan and Yami?"

"Shortly after, the three of us ended up meeting on top of a rather tall building of steel and windows. Before we left the planet, we had a feeling that staying where we did would lead to our demise. There was a lot of snow, for some reason." Her turn again. "Why are you glad that one dig ended up being more trouble than it was worth?"

Yuuno gave a nervous laugh. "Well, I found these Lost Logia called Jewel Seeds at that time." It wasn't something that he told most people, but it wasn't a classified matter, so it didn't matter what he told, as long as he kept certain details to himself. "I met two of my best friends because of the Jewel Seeds. Now, other than needing to eat Linker Cores…" Again, something about that was really tickling the back of his mind, but he just couldn't place it. Not to mention that it left a bad taste in his mouth when he mentioned that. "What else did the three of you do?"

"Travel, mostly." Material-S shook her head. "That and looking for more ways to survive. The three of us went from one world to another, battling several enemies across the planets and learning what we could to live on." From the way she was talking, Yuuno couldn't tell if she was saddened or not. But the way the wistful look to her eyes made him wonder about the validity of some of the rumours surrounding the more violent worlds that the Bureau covered. If the Materials had been on those worlds and caused problems, then the only reason that they had been able to do stuff like that was because the Bureau hadn't been actively involved. Or at least, that's what he thought. "Yuuno-san, your friends, you met them with the Jewel Seeds. Can you tell me more about it?"

Yuuno shook his head. "Not really… I met Nanoha when I was injured. I was desperate and I called out, calling for anyone with any hint of magic to find me. What I got was a girl who never had any sort of contact with magic before in her life. But in the end, she saved my life and in a sense, made me the way I am today."

There was that name again. For some reason, Material-S felt a burning need to find that person and then beat her until she couldn't move ever again. The fact that someone like her had a hand in shaping his life… it was highly irritating.

"Of course, if I had known that I'd be basically forced to become the head librarian of the Infinity Library, I would have insisted that Nanoha blast Chrono a few times." Sure, he and Chrono were friends, but that didn't mean that he didn't want the Admiral to get roughed up a little bit for all the excessive work requests heaped on him over the years.

"Excuse me?"

Seeing her curious look, he pulled out a small data device and pushed a button, pulling up a group photo of his friends. "Chrono's the guy on the left. The woman by his side is his wife, Amy. The three in the middle are Hayate, Fate and Nanoha. The ones on the left are Signum, Vita, Shamal and the blue wolf is Zafira. The little girl in front of Nanoha is her daughter, Vivio."

There were so many vaguely familiar faces but her eyes widened upon seeing a particular one that she had seen recently. 'Yuuno-san considers Evil Kyon as a friend?' It was a disturbing thought but then she remembered how he had earlier said that he was essentially forced to that job of his. The only likely explanation is that he was prone to long-term isolation in that post. On the rare occasion that someone came to visit him, he would desperately latch on for company until…

That seemed to be the only thing that made sense. Seikou unconsciously reached for the slumbering form of Luciferion in an attempt to remain calm. Never had she felt her emotional control slip so much. 'Never again… I won't let them do as they please to him ever again!'

Yuuno grew concerned at how quiet she had become and got out of the bed. "Uh… Seikou? Are you…"

"Don't worry, Yuuno-san." She reached out with her hand and gently stroked his cheek, causing him to blush slightly. "The sources behind your sadness… I will deal with them when the time arrives. This I promise."

'What could she mean by that?' He didn't have a chance to find out as the ship jerked slightly, getting a startled look from the two of them. Without hesitating, they both dashed out of the room and made their way to the command centre. "What happened?"

"Like I would know, peon!" shouted Material-D in irritation. "The display just started spewing nonsense about an anomaly forming right behind the ship!"

"I told Yuu-nii he shouldn't have tempted fate!" Rai was heard yelling happily.

"Let me look!" He stumbled a bit as the ship shook again while quickly examining the display. "A fluidic warp bubble? How did something like that…?"

Seikou frowned upon hearing that. "Fluidic warp bubble?"

"I call dibs on popping it!" shouted Material-L.

"A side effect when the space-time fabric is warped!" Yuuno quickly sat down at one of the command consoles and began to work frantically. "These things can easily propel a vessel several dozen light years in a random direction once it's caught inside! We could wind up anywhere if I don't properly defuse this…!"

"Ooh… that means we'll be lost in space? Will we see deep space fishies?"

"Not now!" hissed Yami while Yuuno tried to work.

"I won't let that happen…! Not when I'm this close to getting back…!" Unfortunately, the mathematics behind computing such compensating variables is quite different from the regular system used to cast magic. No matter what he did, he couldn't quite get the bubble to defuse and it slowly started overtaking the ship.

"We're not going to make it!" exclaimed Seikou in an alarmed tone as the display showed the bubble slowly enveloping the ship's outline.

"**NOOOOOOOO! ! ! !"** It was all Yuuno could howl out as his sight of dimensional space through the ship's windows spun out of control.


	11. Prison Break

"Unnggghhh…" Material-D had to take a moment to get a hold of her bearings as she found herself on the ground tossed out of the command seat. "What just happened?"

"We tumbled and went 'AAAHHH!' like on one of those crazy roller coasters! Let's do that again!" exclaimed Material-L, who had landed not too far away and was on her feet in an instant.

"Shut up for a minute!" snapped Yami. "Is everyone else alright?"

"I am undamaged," came the usual monotone of Material-S from behind. "Yuuno-san is fine as well… I think."

A quick look showed that the Librarian was physically fine but his eyes reflected a great deal of mental agitation. "C-can… someone tell me where we are?"

"Let's see… just lots of big black space and stars. No giant space fishies tho-"

"Rai, please stop that idiotic rambling!" The sudden outburst from the usually calm and composed male shocked everyone else before he tried to regain control. "Sorry… but can I just see the instruments over there?"

Yami, who normally would have unleashed a verbal thrashing fit for royalty, merely nodded and made room for Yuuno to see the values on the display up front. "Coordinates… sixteen, forty-two, Mark Eight…? W-where is that…? Where…?"

"Yuuno-san?"

He started to laugh a little although there was no joy in his tone. No, it was clear that he was nearing the end of his rope by how hollow the laugh sounded. "Hehehe… I'm lost! Absolutely and totally lost! With the only company on this ship being copies of my friends! Isn't this great? T-this is… absolutely…" He just stopped after that and let himself sink to the floor, too drained to go on.

"Seikou, take him somewhere back to rest," ordered Yami.

"Roger." With a small grunt, Material-S helped the Librarian up and started taking him to the back of the ship while Rai had a worried look on her face.

"Yami… what happened to Yuu-nii?"

Material-D wondered how to answer that before deciding just to keep it simple enough so that the Fate replica would understand. "He's just really tired. After a long nap, he should be fine." A beat. "And call me 'your Majesty'." There was virtually no heat in her tone, a sign that she too was concerned for her subject's well-being.

"So… now what?"

Honestly, even Yami wasn't sure how they could properly get themselves back on track. If she interpreted the instruments correctly, they were out in the middle of nowhere and…

She paused for a moment as something caught her eye on the monitor. Something that didn't seem to properly fit in the background of space. "What was that?"

"Hm?"

'It was there just for a moment. A blip in which space was distorted…' She gave this some thought as she connected herself to her device to help her with tracking these anomalies as she was intent on discovering what it was out there. Once she started discovering more distortions, it was only a matter of connecting the dots which slowly revealed several cloaked objects in the area. More like, several smaller objects orbiting what looked like a hidden artificial world.

"Yami-chan, what's that?" asked Rai as she peeked over the Hayate replica's shoulder.

"Something rather interesting… a world invisible to the naked eye." The Lord of Darkness glanced over at the Fate replica. "Suit up, Material-L. You're moving out."

"I am?"

"I'll be equipping you with _Mantel der Unsichtbarkeit_ to make it easier to get close to that world. I'll also give you _Astralrutsche_ in case you need to make emergency teleports," continued Yami without missing a beat. "See if you can get a proper map of this region in space and perhaps some additional supplies. If you encounter resistance, do with them as you wish."

On hearing that last instruction, the blue haired woman gave a smile full of malicious delight. "Oh boy! Slaughter time!"

* * *

"Coffee?"

A grunt of appreciation followed as the first guard reached out for the offered beverage from his co-worker. It was approximately 0100 hours and as usual, things were quiet. There were no unusual activities from what he could see across the various monitors in the control room, aside from that creepy pink-haired robot girl who seemed to be roaming about restlessly around the psych ward after lights out but other than that, all was normal.

The only odd thing that stood out was that they had detected a ship just outside long range sensors. Further scans showed that it wasn't a military vessel by any means and that it was registered to some religious nut. Once they got a proper profile on that man, they looked him up and found his online site. The religious crap he ranted on about was good for a few laughs and helped kill some time off his shift.

He took a sip of the bitter brew to keep himself awake. "So all the new prisoners settled?"

"More or less. We got everybody accounted for when the transport ship came by late in the afternoon," replied his colleague.

"That's good." Bad enough he had to assign staff to maintain special conditions to those two 'Numbers' that they were holding but he had to scramble to find enough personnel to ensure that one of the new prisoners (Magnus if he recalled correctly) was also secure enough due to the potential danger she posed. At least her cell was more or less isolated and located far away from any exits.

"You have any idea what all the fuss is about on the mainland and why they're shoving more prisoners to our area?"

"Some sort of big scary threat as usual. The news has been saying stuff about powerful renegade clones or something." A pause as another sip was taken. "They've even been moving prisoners to Kiliek, Gelda and Gryuen."

The other guard frowned. "Wow, that bad? You think those renegade clones may pop by our neck of the woods?"

"HAH! The coordinates for the max-security prisons are known only to individuals with high rank and only on a need-to-know basis. And even if they find this region, they still can't find us because of the new cloaking tech installed last year. Gotta hand it to those science wiz kids who figured out how those stealth systems work after salvaging one of them Type IV Gadget Drones."

"Mother always said not to tempt fate, for she could be a very mean mistress..." The other guard mentioned to his co-worker.

Said co-worker started giggling in a perverted manner. "Fate can be my mistress any day. I mean, she has to have some serious kinks, with her battle outfits showing off as much skin as they do, the fact that she knows some really interesting binds and her own affinity for lightning..."

"You've been reading the tabloids again, haven't you?" The second guard sighed and shook his head. "While I do appreciate the stories on that Yagami woman's love life, I don't think that Enforcer Fate is that kind of woman."

"Bah, whatever..." The first guard shook his head and looked down, blinking. "Hey, the one ship still hasn't left yet."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah, it's almost like they stalled out or something."

The second guard had a thoughtful look on his face. "Ya think... maybe their religion of truth abandoned them?"

A beat... and then the two started laughing their asses off.

"Oh, lordy... dude, you're gonna kill me with those jokes of-" He was cut off as a sudden beeping on the work console started going off. Immediately, he put away the coffee and got to work on tracing the source.

"What is it?" asked his partner.

"An unauthorized transport..."

"Someone's breaking out?"

The first guard shook his head. "No... someone's broken in!" Another alert started beeping as well. "We just lost subspace communications!"

"No doubt about it... someone's making an attempt to escape and they're getting help from the outside. They even cut us off from calling outside patrol vessels and the mainland." The second guard stood up and headed for the exit. "I'll round up some of the other guards and we'll corner the intruder quickly. You direct us from here."

"Right!" In the meantime, he could tap into the surveillance camera network and get an idea of their intruder. 'Let's see... since they somehow made their way into the subspace relay chamber and severed the connections, they are probably located around Block Fourteen.' But as he switched channels to the video feeds looking through that area, he only kept getting static. 'Dammit... where are you?'

Finally, one camera showed a clear shot right inside the relay chamber itself. It looked like nothing was there until he spotted a familiar female figure dressed in a barrier jacket complete with cape. 'It can't be... Enforcer Harlaown?' As he tried to get his thoughts organized, his heart skipped a beat as the figure in the camera lens turned towards his direction and got closer. Those eyes... those inhuman eyes seemed to stare directly at him and she had a smile that perfectly fit that of a serial killer. 'No... get away from me!'

The sudden image ended as an electrical discharge from the woman turned the feed into static as well. But he would never be able to forget that nightmarish smile which pretty much killed any future fantasies about Enforcer Harlaown.

* * *

It was a very unsettling atmosphere in these corridors. Even more so now that they had someone loose inside the prison. Heck, even the man posted at mission control was quite rattled when he had stammered the last known whereabouts of their surprise guest around the Fourteenth Block.

A group of about six guards had been rounded up to properly track down the intruder. Between the six B-ranked mages, they figured this would be sufficient to apprehend the intruder. Besides, they were all familiar with the outline of the prison halls and could easily close in for a quick apprehension while the intruder fumbled around in the dark. In this case, they had the advantage as the subspace communication relay chamber was at the very end of the hallway. It was a restricted area with only one access point so the intruder would be forced to go towards their direction.

Everyone was in position although they couldn't see much due to the dim lighting that turned on after hours. But they could hear a footstep or two and what seemed like a bit of static in the distance. It was a bit nerve-wracking but they held on to their Devices, ready to go.

Just a bit closer… and they could finish this in an instant. They weren't sure what hidden surprises that this intruder carried up their sleeve so hitting hard and fast when the enemy had their guard down was the optimal strategy.

"Hey, hey… what are you all doing?" They all froze when they heard that female voice come out of nowhere from behind them. Slowly they turned around to see a perky young woman with blue hair waving hello while her device's blue gem shone ominously even in the dim light.

"W-w-what the…?"

"Hiyas! I was wondering…" She paused for a moment as she examined everyone's faces closely and shook her head in disappointment. "Ah, that won't do. You see, you're supposed to put on the 'oh crap' look AFTER I give my awesome intro speech! So let's try this again, from the top."

"... ..." They weren't sure what to make of this but all they knew was that somehow rather than her being the prey and them the predators, it was now the other way around. She was even toying with them with her silly acts!

"I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the Midnight Snacker that steals the last piece of chicken pie from your fridge! I am…"

*GROWL*

The rumbling of her stomach caused her to grimace awkwardly before she improvised the last bit of her intro. "… I am a seriously hungry Lightning Assailant. If that's too much for you, you can go with Rai." She sighed loudly as her previous enthusiasm died down. "Okay, that last bit didn't go so well but in any case, where's the nearest kitchen so I can raid for chicken pies?"

"**Again with the need to feed, ma'am?"** piped up the mechanical voice of her device in a somewhat irritated tone.

Rai glanced at her staff. "What's with you, Vulnificus? You're complaining rather loudly this time around."

"**You've been eating healthy while I haven't had a decent meal in ****ages. It's been a while since I tasted the feeling of blood freshly spilled from a body or the sensation of absolute fear prior to death."**

"Oh, dear… I guess I'll have to fix that!" She glanced back at the group of guards that had tried to get the jump on her earlier. "Sorry but I gotta take care of this! The good news is that NOW you can put on your 'oh crap' looks!"

* * *

"This way, Yuuno-san." Seikou said as she led the near-catatonic man into his room. She sat him down on the bed and he merely stared blankly down at his hands. Seikou grimaced slightly, unhappy with the state the man was in, but she couldn't blame him, she supposed. He just wanted to get home, but all sorts of events were preventing him from doing so. After everything that happened, it was bound to catch up with him eventually.

Compelled to do something, Seikou took a seat next to him. She gently wrapped her arms around him and drew him in. His head resting on her shoulder, she began to stroke his hair.

"It's okay, Yuuno-san." She soothed. "Everything will be fine." When he said nothing, she continued to press on. "Even if you fail to return home, you are not alone. The others and I are here for you. If necessary, you can begin a new life with us."

Again he said nothing, and Seikou began to worry even more. Was the shock really so bad? Seikou was at a loss, but what she did know is that she couldn't bear to see him like that. It caused an unpleasant tightness in her chest and all she desired was to make him feel better.

At that thought, she recalled an experience she had with him before. It had been quite pleasant so perhaps it was the thing to bring him around.

"Yuuno-san…" She whispered, gently lifting his chin up to meet her gaze. His emerald eyes looked almost hollow and empty, making her discomfort even worse. In an attempt to remedy the situation, she brought her mouth to his and softly connected their lips together. Attempting to urge him on, Seikou gradually pushed more firmly, running her tongue between their lips in an effort to get his mouth open. She eventually succeeded, slipping her tongue across his teeth before finding his tongue. She prodded the muscle with her own until it started pushing back at her. Their tongues danced, increasing in intensity until saliva leaked out of their lips.

The action had a pleasing warmth spread through her, and Seikou hoped his involvement signified he was feeling the same. To her dismay, she was running out of breath so she slowly moved away, a chain of fluid keeping them connected as their mouths separated.

"You…" Yuuno muttered. She was pleased to see some light had returned to his eyes, but he still seemed out of it. Knowing she had to go further, her hand went down to the bulge between his legs.

"Don't worry, Yuuno-san." She said. "I will make you feel better."

* * *

Runessa Magnus couldn't tell how long she had been lying on her bed inside her new cell. It must have been at least two or three hours. Even though she knew she should be getting some rest for another busy day tomorrow most likely doing chores around this prison, it was hard to fall asleep. After all, it wasn't as… oddly comfortable as her old cell back.

Well, she couldn't really do anything about it. There was a massive reshuffling of prisoners off to other facilities that are off the home world so she wasn't expecting to see Mid-Childa anytime soon. A pity… she did somewhat enjoy having conversations with her old superior Teana Lanster, regardless of how silly that other woman got about saving her.

Just as she tried settling back into bed, the internal prison alarms went off rather loudly. She heard disgruntled grumbles from fellow prisoners waking up in neighbouring cells. While there was no activity of notice in this cell group area, she managed to hear bits of yelling just beyond the access door and bodies crashing into steel walls. 'Now what? A prison riot?'

Magnus hoped that was the case. If anything, she would like to be able to cause some pain to someone or at least see it in person. She got out of her bed to take a look around, even though she probably wouldn't be able to see anything in the dimly lit cell block. As far as she could tell no one was out of their cells and she couldn't make out any other guard activity from her view.

She waited… and waited… but nothing came. 'I guess it's over alrea-'

The door to the cell block suddenly got blown back by a powerful force and her eyes widened as she saw at least two guards suddenly fly past her cell and crash onto the floor. "What..?" Magnus stumbled back as her eyes managed to see a woman with blue hair and red eyes step into the area. Her skin was lightly covered in blood as she advanced with a murderous look on her face directed at one of the fallen guards.

"How dare you… YOU ATE THE LAST ROASTED CHICKEN POTATO CHIP AFTER I CALLED DIBS ON IT!"

He wasn't sure how to respond to that. "But it was my bag of chips in the first place!"

"Shut up and die! Lightning Blade Pierce!" And a barrage of electrical arrowheads took out that guard in a flash, leaving only a charred corpse. "Aaaahhh! That feels good!"

Magnus wasn't sure if she was scared or delighted, but either way, she _had_ to know more about this person. "Hey! Hey, you blue haired woman!"

The woman turned to her, her face now much calmer than previously. "What?" She casually blocked a desperation magic attack from the other fallen guard before returning the favour with the same attack she used earlier, going two for two.

"… did you have fun killing them?"

"Eeehh…" She thought about it for a while before grinning happily. "Yeah, I guess I did!"

"Are you going to keep having fun? Who will you play with next?"

The only answer was a shrug from the mage outside the cell. "Dunno!"

"Then… let me out of here."

The blue haired woman tilted her head to the side. "Why?"

"I know a world full of people that you can play with. People who would die just as messily as those guards did." Magnus smiled as she tried to coax the other person to open the cell door. "Let me out. Let me watch you play with those sheep."

There was a pause until the mage got up close to the cell window. "Then answer me these questions three! Hehehe…"

The prisoner struggled to maintain her smile, even as her mind was wondering what exactly that other woman was on. "Uh… shoot?"

"Got chicken?"

"Uhh... What? No!" For one thing, prisoners weren't allowed to eat outside mess hall hours and she couldn't even save any food for later even if she wanted to. Besides, Magnus was certain that she had tuna casserole for dinner.

"Do you know where the kitchen is?"

"No..." It wasn't as if she memorized the prison layout. Hell, she just got here!

"And the last question… if I let you out, do you think my hand will go all KFC on me and let me pull out deep fried drumsticks out of thin air?"

The smile all but dropped as Magnus felt herself getting mad at these silly questions. "How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"Okay then! You can stay there right where you are while I go raid for food! Baibai!" The other woman waved cheerfully before she went along her merry way, humming a tune under her breath.

"..."

"Oh! Before I forget…!" The crazy mage quickly ran back to the cell for a second, nearly tripping over her own feet. "Here's a tip for next time. The answer to the first question is always 'SHADDUP!' so keep that in mind, kay?"

"Please just go…" There was no way that Magnus was going to deal with that wacko for another second. Not even if she were given total freedom and asked to teach the entire galaxy the meaning of pain. Some things were not worth the price.


	12. One Small Step for Sette

*tik tik tik tik*

Doctor Miura's fingers danced across a keyboard as he continued plugging away inside his dimly lit office. It was approaching 4 AM. In all honesty, his work day should have wrapped up 10 hours ago.

*tik tik tik tik*

But he couldn't leave the office with this work unfinished. Not when the brass was pressing on him to give up on his patient and surrender her over to the Extreme Risk Covert Ops group. After all, she had the ideal mindset for one of their soldiers. No emotions and no fear. Just the thing needed when going into potentially hostile systems and planets to retrieve Lost Logia.

*tik tik tik tik*

He had been working with her for almost five years and had to admit that she had been one of his most challenging cases. The first step had been to repair whatever alterations had been made to his patient's frontal lobe. He was loathe to admit that whoever did that in the first place knew what they were doing. Almost all of her higher cognitive functions were left intact. The treatment just to restore the frontal lobe to normal (or as close to normal as it could get for someone like her since she was a Combat Cyborg and not a normal human) took all of the first two years.

*tik tik tik tik*

Then it was straight to trying to help her develop these new feelings but she really didn't understand it at first. It wasn't until the fourth year that he started making some progress. It was also at the same time that the brass took notice of this case as they had quite their hands full on recovery operations after the JS incident and the Mariage incident.

Miura had to push a lot of paperwork around in an attempt to protect his patient's rights. But time was running out. The Bureau's case to have her moved from his care to the Extreme Risk group was airtight and if his division's legal counsel was going to put up a fight, they needed all the proper documents and papers to build a case to justify keeping her in here for treatment. Unfortunately, they had fallen being on putting together the background profile for the lawyers and this was why Miura had to stay behind so that it was there for their legal counsel to review when they arrive at work.

'Finally!' One last save, a quick message attachment and the file was sent over. Miura let out a loud yawn before shutting down his workstation and packing up his briefcase. He would probably need to push some early morning business back but it wasn't terribly urgent as they were just status updates on other cases.

As he walked to the staff's residential area, he passed by one of the guards stationed near the entrance to the patient cells. "Just finished up, doctor?"

"Yes, Chelsea. It's been a rough day." He noticed her slightly weary look. "Is something bothering you? Where's your partner?"

She brushed a strand of purple hair away from her eyes. "Garn's making the rounds right now. And as for me, it's just that your patient in Cell #4316 hasn't gone to sleep yet. She's had that blank look for a while. It's creeping me out."

"May I see her?" While Miura really had been looking forward to going to bed, he couldn't turn his back on his patient who seemed clearly disturbed by something.

"You sure? You look like you could use some sleep," said Chelsea in a concerned tone. "Besides, it's lights out."

"I'm only going to check up on her for a bit. As her doctor, I need to look into this new change of behaviour and determine what could be behind it."

She gave it some thought before inserting her access key to open the first set of doors. "I really shouldn't be doing this," grumbled the woman.

"Admit it. You've grown fond of her and are worried about her as well," said Miura with a tired grin on his youthful face.

Chelsea stuck out her tongue before stepping aside for the doctor to enter the area. "Don't take too long. I don't want to hear news of you falling asleep in the middle of a meeting."

"Heh… you're such a good friend."

"Yeah, yeah…" He waved one last goodbye to the woman before entering the area where they kept low-risk profile prisoners, those who were unlikely to tumble back into criminal activities. The cells themselves were like small dorm rooms with four inmates assigned to one room which has two bunk beds.

It didn't take him too long to find her cell and just as Chelsea had said earlier, he spotted the pink haired woman, clad in pale white prison sleepwear, sitting on the edge of her bed, staring blankly into the wall while her cellmates snored away. For a second, he thought she didn't notice him until her pink eyes turned right in his direction. "Doctor," greeted the woman in a neutral tone.

"Sette…"

"Is there something the matter?"

"I should be asking you that." This could be a pivotal development in her case. If anything, this would be undeniable proof that his methods were working and give him an extra edge in his attempt to fight the Bureau's transfer order. "You seem a little distracted."

"I am… unsettled." For her to be admitting that, it had to be something huge. Most likely, she had become aware of the interest she is getting from the brass.

After some thought, Miura fished out for his access key and opened her cell door. "How about we take a little stroll? I would like to hear what is bothering you."

"… is that an order?"

"It's an offer to help, Sette. I thought we already talked about how you should not interpret everything as an order," chided the doctor gently.

"Ah. I apologize then." After giving it some thought, she rose from the bed and passed through the open door. "I believe I will take you up on the offer."

'Yep… she's definitely making progress.' He took a moment to gather his thoughts together after relocking the cell door. "Well, what is bothering you?"

"During our last therapy session, you had told me that I had to be the one to determine what my ongoing mission would be. My… life objective as you put it. I have yet to come to an adequate definition of that objective when I was informed of the possible transfer order," said Sette as she followed the doctor down the dimly lit corridor.

"A lot of people have trouble figuring out what they want to do with their lives even when they're in their thirties or forties. In most cases, you can't expect something like that to come instantly." He took a moment to switch the topic back as it was best not get too side tracked. "So in any case, what would you say is the source of your discomfort? Is it the thought of going into high risk situations every day if you were to be transferred to that division?"

"I do not fear the possibility of death. However, I have no desire to adapt the Bureau's ongoing mission of collecting and sealing Lost Logia as my own. I do not currently have anything of value that could be considered worth fighting for."

"But what of your family?" Her profile had indicated that she had a fairly close bond to her fellow Combat Cyborgs. In fact, he recalled that there was a particular unit currently located in Prison Kiliek's First branch on Uninhabited World 6 that influenced Sette's decision to stay incarcerated rather than undergo the rehabilitation program that was offered at the time.

"Undoubtedly, those who have chosen to undergo the original rehabilitation program offered by Ms. Nakajima have found new ideals to believe in and new people to value and care for. It is likely the reason why they have not been able to see me or give any indication that they are concerned for my well being. As for the Doctor and my other sisters who chose to stay with him, I have changed too much for them to accept me as I am."

"That's… a rather gloomy way of looking at things," commented Miura before spotting some light coming from an open door ahead of him. He could also hear someone rummaging around in the fridge. "I bet that's Garn grabbing an unauthorized snack again…"

"In this case, a proper reprimand is necessary," said the pink haired Combat Cyborg as she followed the doctor towards the kitchen. "If you wish, I can offer assistance in this regard."

"I'll be fine. I shouldn't be-" He nearly lost his balance as he stumbled on something just as he entered the kitchen. After recovering his footing, he looked back at what tripped him and saw the outstretched hand of the other female guard that had gone to make the rounds. She was out cold but alive as he could feel a pulse once he checked up on her. "Thank goodness… you're alive…"

**"She would have been dead if it Ma'am had took the time to do things correctly,"** replied a mechanical male voice in a snarky tone that came from behind the fridge door which was wide open, concealing the midnight snacker.

"Well, you can't eat and murder someone at the same time! It's not good for digestion!" Miura heard a lid pop open and the sounds of someone tearing into a leftover chicken patty. As the fridge door closed, he was able to make out a blue haired woman with red eyes in a mage's barrier jacket. What was worse was that she had her axe-like device close by which was currently being pointed at Sette. "Haavan-Rending Funder Got Hammuh!"

For the next several seconds, there was nothing.

…

…

…

…

**"Chew first, swallow and then try saying the incantation,"** grumbled the device.

She didn't get another chance to try as Sette immediately pounced from her position.

* * *

Yuuno groaned once as he slowly opened his eyes. How long had it been since he took those readings and fainted? And what was wrong with his eyesight? He was certain that he had his glasses on before but now, his eyes were a bit unfocused, only able to make out something curvy in front of him in the dark room. He shifted a little as he moved one of his hands to his face, not feeling the familiar frames hanging on by his ears. "Yuuno-san?"

"Glasses… where are my glasses?" He was about to fumble around when he was gently pushed back down by a soft hand.

"Please wait a moment." His vision could barely make out his female companion moving to grab his glasses that had been placed on the night shelf. "Here. Would you like the lights to be on?"

"Thanks. And yes, please." After taking a moment to put them on, a flood of light lit up the room allowing him to recognize the surroundings. He was in one of the crew quarters, which was quite messy with all the clothing that had been scattered on the floor.

Wait a second… scattered clothing? So that's why he felt a bit exposed in here and why Seikou was…

… oh.

"Are you alright?" Her tone was quiet and warm. At least warm for her standards since for any other person that didn't know her, she probably would have sounded the same as ever.

Yuuno thought he would have been a lot more nervous in the aftermath but he must have gotten used to it somehow thanks to his prior experiences with Rai and Yami. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I won't pull another freak out again if that's what you're wondering." He pondered about getting back to solving his current problem but after some thought, decided to put it aside for now as it was damn comfortable in here. Not to mention the lovely company.

For Material-S, it had been an enjoyable experience, and something told her it had been so only because her partner had been this man. It made her oddly happy to think that, and it also relieved her that she had made him feel good. While she had also been rejuvenated, that was merely a side benefit, not the main intent.

And yet something troubled her. Yuuno had gotten quite… intense with her. While it did feel amazing, it still struck her as odd that a kind hearted man such as him would forgo being gentle. Moreover, he had been so resistant to the idea of sleeping with her the first time it was proposed, but he had given in rather easily this time. Had that merely been the result of all the stress or was there something else?

On top of that, the look that was in his eyes continued to bother her. It was as if he was looking at her, yet seeing something else. That name he called during the heat of passion, was it her name, or…?

She would have to ponder it later. Right now, there was something else she wanted to ask. "Yuuno-san?"

"Hm?"

"Earlier, I said that if you could not return to your world, you can start a new life with us. I would like to hear your thoughts on that idea."

The blonde male leaned back against his pillow and stared at the ceiling. "A new life, huh?"

"Yes. You can still explore those burial sites and continue your work to your heart's content without being constrained by whatever rules governed your occupation on your world," said the Nanoha replica.

"Well, isn't it kinda early to be giving up? Besides, I thought you were interested in seeing my world."

"I am interested but I like the way things are now. Being with you and the others as we travel among the stars freely…" She lazily traced circles with her right index finger on his chest. "I'm certain the others feel the same way. Rai has taken a liking to you quite quickly. As for Yami, if she has appointed you to a high ranking position of her inner court, then she probably thinks highly of you."

A part of Yuuno felt proud on hearing that all three females seemed to value his company. And he admitted that there was a certain sense of liberation in this situation. But he couldn't just abandon everything back on Mid-Childa. If he said that straight up right now, he doubted Seikou would be happy on hearing that and right now, he would rather stay in everyone's good graces considering how volatile they were.

What he needed to do is buy a bit of time for himself. "I admit that I don't mind the idea but the least I should do before starting a brand new journey is to tie up all the loose threads back on my world. Give a proper notice of resignation and all that."

"Fair enough." Seikou was glad that he was giving the idea careful consideration. For her, being able to know that he would not object to building a new life was enough for now.

"I still have to figure out the problem with all these sudden changes when we travel in dimensional space. What keeps throwing us off?" He got up from his spot and swung over his side of the bed, trying to get his mind back on track.

"It's a matter of examining each instance. Deconstruct the problem, Yuuno-san and you will be able to find your clue," said Material-S quietly as she moved behind him and massaged his bare shoulders.

Damn… his mind was starting to go a bit cloudy from her touch. "S-Seikou…"

"You can solve this. I believe in you."

He chuckled a bit. "Heh… it's not like I can just activate a limiter and have my analytical capability spring up to S… rank…"

The sudden pause in his words caused her to get a bit concerned. "Yuuno-san?"

"I can't believe this… why didn't I think of this before?" The Librarian turned around with excitement in his green eyes. "Limiters! Mage ranks! It's all making sense now!"

"I'm sorry but I do not follow."

"The Bureau imposes power limiters upon its most potent mages when the latter have to work together within a comparatively small area, because magic of great magnitude endangers the fabric of the time-space! Each time we tried to make a jump, it went off course because of the warping of the space time fabric! It was caused by the three of you since you don't have any limiters! The first instance was only a minor detour and that was after Yami got with me… and then we had that warp bubble occur…" With the new information fresh in his mind, he got out of the bed and started getting dressed quickly. "I know how to get us back! A proper compensation variable in the flight plan and we should be able to make it there!"

"Can it be that-" Material-S was quickly cut off with a kiss from Yuuno.

"I couldn't have figured this out without you! Thank you!"

As he made a hasty retreat to get his equipment for the upcoming number crunching ahead, the Nanoha replica merely smiled to herself, glad that his spirits were back up again. "You're welcome, Yuuno-san."

* * *

For Sette, this feeling was pleasantly nostalgic. It had been a while since she got thrust into an actual combat situation. As much as the doctor and his co-workers tried to convince her otherwise, this was her comfort zone.

No time to dawdle. She had to begin calculating her next moves to achieve victory conditions. A quick analysis to determine what steps would have to be taken to achieve her goal.

For starters, the territorial advantage belonged to her, due to being in and out of this particular kitchen for many years. She knew the exits and the access points. But that was probably the only advantage she had. All other factors were in favour of the Testarossa replica.

She had the barrier jacket while the Combat Cyborg was in standard prisoner sleepwear. She wielded that axe like device, which could transform into energy swords of different sizes based on what she recalled from the last time she and Testarossa crossed paths in battle years ago. The only possible device she could probably acquire is the mass produced one that was clasped in that unconscious guard's hands. It was better than nothing and Sette would have to be certain to make the proper apologies later.

Combat ability wise, Sette would probably have to judge that her opponent had the edge. While she managed to get some exercise during her incarceration, it was not as intensive as the training drills she had went through with her older sister Tre. If anything, her combat efficiency was probably down by five to ten percent compared to her abilities five years ago. In the case of the clone across from her, she could tell that the other mage has seen battle actively. Even though she didn't look like it with the way she spoke in such a… childish manner, the clone was perfectly positioned to easily defend against magical attacks. Adding further to her disadvantage was the presence of Doctor Miura and Garn. They could easily be used as hostages or alternative targets.

So eliminating the enemy was clearly not the optimal victory condition in this scenario. The next best solution would be to try and restrain her long enough for security forces to come and make a formal arrest.

Yes, that would suffice. Now that the course of action has been determined, it is time to act as soon as the opportunity arose…

"Haavan-Rending Funder Got Hammuh!"

A beat…

…

…

…

**"Chew first, swallow and then try saying the incantation,"** grumbled the device in the other mage's hand.

Chance!


	13. Sidekick Acquired

Sette had to admit to herself that for someone chewing on a chicken patty in a confined kitchen, the female intruder managed to defend herself adequately against her initial attempt to keep her locked down. At the moment, the Combat Cyborg had the upper hand and was able to at least limit her opponent's movements by getting behind and locking the arms and legs with her own.

But she didn't seem to react… at least in an expected manner. Sette thought that she would have struggled to get free from her grip but instead, she struggled to get back to the container containing those chicken patties. **"Um… shouldn't you be getting out of this hold first, Ma'am?"** asked the device.

"Chicken patties await!" growled that strange blue haired woman as she inched closer.

'… she certainly has strange priorities.' Nonetheless, this was an opportunity. "Doctor, can you call in security?"

Miura managed to pull out a communications device from the unconscious body of Garn but saw that it wasn't functioning properly. "No can do. Her com radio's fried and I'm sure I drained the battery on my own radio."

"What about… telepathy?" grunted Sette as the other woman started to close her gloved hand around the box.

"I'm a doctor, not a mage!" Unknown to him, it was a somewhat poor choice of words on his part as the intruder suddenly reacted to his statement.

"McCoy Moment!" With a surge of strength, the blue haired woman managed to throw off the Combat Cyborg right into the dish rack where pieces of cutlery were still drying out in the air, causing them to fly everywhere. But it didn't stop her from slowly approaching the doctor as he blindly scrambled for something to protect him and the guard.

"Stay back! Or prepare to taste the wrath of my…" His hands closed around something and he whipped it out, hoping it would be the device that had been carried by Garn but instead… "… butter knife?"

She just merely giggled. "Hehehehehe! What next? You gonna use the Force… er, forks?"

"… maybe." Not a dignified answer but considering what happened a second ago, he may as well try to roll with the flow. Maybe he could get everyone out of this particular mess without having any bloodshed if she got easily amused.

"Now if we're going to get another McCoy Moment, then I have to finish her off! Then you can check on her and say 'She's Dead, Jim'. The only problem is who's gonna be Jim? I can't do it so I guess it'll fall to…" The blue haired woman paused for a moment before pointing dramatically to Sette, who had shook off the earlier disorientation. "… you! Your name is now Jim!"

"Incorrect. My designation is Sette. It has not been and will never be 'Jim'," replied the Combat Cyborg in a tone that bordered on irritation but not quite. "Identify yourself."

The disappointment of not having a Jim quickly vanished as the crazy female mage began her speech. "I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the flatulence that you get from eating one too many chicken burritos! I am Material-L… but you can just call me Rai-chan!"

"Rai-chan? I didn't expect someone like her to have such a simple name," mumbled Miura as she quickly moved to chow down the last chicken patty in the container.

**"And I didn't expect that she would be intelligent enough to use a term like flatulence."**

"For someone who sounds like Kevin J. England, that was awfully snarky of you, Vulnificus," said Rai to her device.

**"… who's Kevin J. England?"**

"That's the question! Nobody knows who the guy is aside for having 15 minutes of fame in some anime production! I totally bet that he's a big retard or plays a retarded role!" She whirled towards the Combat Cyborg. "What do you think, Sette-chan?"

"What is your purpose here?" demanded Sette, ignoring the question just fired her way. "And why do you bear such a resemblance to Testarossa?"

"… Testarossa? What do you know of that name?" The tone used by the Lightning Assailant just now was a complete switch from her earlier goofy antics. And her red eyes held a rather unnerving glint which disturbed Miura.

'What is this? She mentioned that name and… all of a sudden…'

Before Rai could approach the Combat Cyborg, she heard a familiar royal voice echo in her mind. _"Material-L, respond!"_

_"Yami-chan?"_

_"Call me 'Your Majesty'!"_ replied the irritated telepathic tone of Material-D. _"You haven't checked in for a while! What are you doing? Do you have everything yet?"_

_"Ah, no… actually I finally found a fridge to raid from so that should solve the food thing but no luck on the map! Oh… and that teleport spell you gave me? It fell apart like a Jenga tower!"_

_"That's because you probably burned out the core matrix by using it too often!"_ growled the Lord of Darkness. _"Whatever… just get back to the ship as soon as possible with what you have. Those cloaked objects orbiting that world are starting to act funny. It's best if we leave quickly."_

_"Aye-aye!"_ The telepathic connection was broken before Rai moved towards the fridge. "Vulnificus, Sealing Mode."

It didn't take long for the device to figure out what exactly she was doing. **"Oh, you have got to be kidding me. You're sealing a bloody fridge."**

"Yes. Now get to it!" One second later and the fridge vanished from their sights. "Now only one more thing… Sette-chan, you're coming with me!"

"… what?" said the Combat Cyborg in a flat tone.

"Yep, yep! After all, you said that magical word back there, meaning you know some stuff about her. I really want to hear about it which is why I want you to come with me. Besides… you know that you're wasting away here in this place."

Sette frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your manner of speech, the calculating look in your eyes as you went through every single possible scenario that you could conceive to meet victory conditions… you're a soldier, Sette-chan. Like Heero and Sosuke and probably half a billion other characters that are out there. Right now, you're without a mission. Your body language practically screams it out loud regardless of how well you may try to hide it." The Lightning Assailant held out her hand. "I can give you a mission objective and it won't be a one shot deal. It'll probably be a mission that will last a life time as it deals with something that has vast influence in this universe. It's bigger than you can imagine, Sette-chan. Bigger than the Bureau and Ancient Belka…"

'What could she be talking about? Is this a trick?' She wasn't sure what the Fate replica was up to. "I need more information concerning the details of your mission."

"There's no time to tell the whole story now! I have a ship out there waiting for me and we're going to be leaving soon. If you want to find out what I'm talking about, then come with me."

"W-wait a second!" protested Miura. "Sette, please think about what she's offering! I don't know what type of life mission she's talking about but I can't guarantee that it will be as you expected!"

"And what if I refuse to go with you, Material-L?" responded Sette.

Rai merely shrugged. "Your choice I guess. I won't be too happy about it though meaning that when I make my way outta here, I'll probably be frying every single person I meet on the way out. Guards, prisoners… you name it!"

"Is that so…?" She carefully weighed her options. On the one hand, she could stay and try to continue her treatment although there was a chance that the transfer order could still go through later in the future and increase the odds of dying a meaningless death. Not to mention that at the present, Material-L would most certainly not hesitate to use extreme force on anyone she saw while making her escape.

It appeared that she had only one option if she wanted to prevent any unnecessary deaths. "Very well… I shall accompany you. On the condition that you do not kill anyone else while in this facility."

"Sure, whatever! As long as I got my new sidekick with me!" cheered Material-L happily before she grabbed the Combat Cyborg's arm to drag her along.

"Sette!" Miura wanted to move but his body didn't seem to respond, most likely because of exhaustion from working such a long day.

"I shall be fine, Doctor. And… thank you," said Sette softly as she got yanked away.

* * *

"Zzzzzzz…. "

*BEEP BEEP*

"Guh?"

"Touma, it is 0430 hours," chirped Steed softly, floating near the boy's right ear. "Also, you may wish to be careful."

"Who is it this time?" groaned Touma as he tried to adjust his eyesight in the dark. He had long ago gotten used to how the Nakajima girls would climb in his bed and use him as a surrogate teddy bear simply because his bedroom was conveniently located close to the washroom. So rather than head back to their room after a late night bathroom break, they could just head to his bed and resume their slumber as soon as possible.

"I believe it is Ms. Dieci and Ms. Cinque who are currently attached to you in the bed. They must have had a rough and long work day if they have not been awakened by my soft alarm. In fact, they are still both in uniform."

It took a few moments for him to squeeze out of their grip and move to his closet to get changed into some workout clothes. After adjusting the blankets and tucking in Dieci and Cinque, he made his way out of the house and saw Einhart Stratos already out on the front lawn, dressed in her own green fall jacket and track pants. "Hello, Touma-kun."

"Geez, Einhart… the sun hasn't risen yet and you're fresh as a daisy! How do you do it?" asked Touma as he fought back a yawn.

"It's a result of several years of training and focusing on developing the three crucial aspects of being: the Mind, the Body and the Spirit," replied the green haired girl without missing a beat. "It's a common philosophy in all martial arts, not just Kaiser Arts. The Body is developed through rigorous physical conditioning exercises, which is the purpose of the workouts. The Mind is developed through mental thinking and active learning, which is the purpose of our study sessions. As for the Spirit, that comes through an established goal and a firm foundation of beliefs to guide you. That is something you seem to be working on already."

"Yeah…" He definitely had a goal in mind: to get to the bottom of the mysterious attack on his village on Vaizen.

"Then, I believe it is best that prior to starting today's workout, we energize your Spirit." She reached into her jacket pockets and pulled out… a pair of maracas.

"What the…?"

Einhart shook the maracas a few times while fighting back the blush on her cheeks before going into her song.

_"Good morning good morning bonjour!"  
"Good morning good morning bonjour!"  
"Touma-kun! Touma-kun! Good morning, Touma-kun!"_

"…" He had no idea what to say. Seriously.

_"Get up early, bonjour!"  
"Have a good day, bonjour!"  
"Spin around and around and around and around and around and around..."  
"Bonjour Bonjour Bonjour Bonjour... good morning Touma-kun... Hey!"_

Silence reigned for a few moments before the male just started clapping his hands, unsure of how else to respond. "… er, thanks?"

"You're welcome." She put down the maracas so that they wouldn't get in the way of stretching.

"So… where did that come from?"

"It's a memory of my ancestor. One of the few unusual but pleasant ones prior to the conclusion of the Saint King Unification War." An amused smile came to Einhart's face. "Olivie would sing that song to wake up Ingvalt while she stayed in Shutra."

Touma immediately recognized the name and it took him another minute to try and put the picture together. "… so you're telling me that the last Sankt Kaiser, one of the strongest martial artists of the Ancient Belkan era… would sing that song to wake up your ancestor?"

"Every. Single. Morning. Sure, the little dance and instruments may change around a bit but the jingle remained the same."

"….. unreal," muttered the boy. "What happened to her being 'subtle as a flower'?"

"I also specifically mentioned that she was as bright as the sun. You can't get any brighter than that. Now, let's start our stretches and then we'll do a ten mile run."

'Ugh…' Touma mentally prepared himself for the upcoming pain to come.

* * *

'Does this woman even know what she's doing?' It hadn't been a few minutes after they left the familiar low-risk wing and they were already lost. The fact that the sirens were active also meant that security was well aware of the situation and would be trying to contain them as soon as possible.

At least Material-L kept true to her word and set her electricity based spells to stun the opponents rather than kill. "So, do you know your way around here, Sette-chan?"

The Combat Cyborg had to be careful not to give into the urge to point out the dozens and dozens of mistakes in Rai's 'Escape Plan'. "I believe I had previously stated that I have not memorized the prison layout outside of the low-risk wing. I cannot assist in navigating to the airlock."

"Airlock?" asked the Fate replica in a puzzled tone. "We don't need no stinking airlock!"

"You… did not park your vessel there?" Sette could only ponder what military authority would have someone such as this Material-L carry out an apparently vital mission that could have ramifications across the universe.

"Nope! I just need to get back out to the stars and we'll be on our way! And to do that, I gotta find one of those outer walls or whatever they're called." She looked around, not finding any familiar places she passed. "Looks like I'll have to do this the Ken-chan way."

"… what?" For some reason, Sette had an odd feeling about this.

* * *

"Just what could those things be?" mumbled the Lord of Darkness under her breath as she continued observing the behaviour of those cloaked objects that orbited the hidden world. They had been dormant at the beginning but now, it seems that they shifted to standing by for a possible order from whoever is controlling them.

"What things?"

She had been so lost in thought that she didn't hear the door behind her open. "How is the peasant doing, Material-S? Has he calmed down?"

"Yes, he has. In fact, he believes that he has discovered a way to ensure that we stay on our flight path. Apparently, the reason why we kept jumping off course each time was our power levels naturally distorting the space-time fabric," replied the Nanoha replica.

"That would make sense-" She paused when she saw how differently her companion moved as she sat down right beside her. Her movements were no longer sluggish. In fact, Yami could probably say that Material-S moved with the grace of a nightingale. There was only possible explanation. "I see you took the time to get a proper recharge. How did that go?"

"I didn't realize you were interested in finding out more details about my intimacy with Yuuno-san," said Seikou with the closest thing to a mischievous smirk on her face, causing Material-D to turn around and conceal her blushing cheeks.

"I'm only asking to make sure that your mana levels have been properly replenished and to make sure that the moron hasn't been left in poor condition after you finished with him! I'm not interested in hearing your perverted stories!"

"Then, why don't you tell me yours?"

"Excuse me?" She was caught off guard by that question and by the way Material-S had asked her. "What do you mean by that?"

"Back on the planet Tenrei… the spell that you used to disintegrate those six bodies, how much mana did it require?" asked the Starlight Destroyer.

"What does that have to do with anything?" snapped Yami.

"If my memories on that spell serves me correctly… you need 200,000 for the base damage plus taking into account multiple targets to be affected by the spell… I would say one would be looking around a total of 800,000 points. Am I correct?"

The Hayate replica nodded. "That sounds reasonable but you still haven't told me where you're going with your reasoning."

"Back when Yuuno-san performed the emergency transfer procedure on me, I was able to feel the aura of his Linker Core while we were linked together. I can estimate that his total magical point values are somewhere around one million points at most. And after that skirmish near Mercadia, your levels must have dropped to around 200,000 points since you entered a high state of mana burnout. If Yuuno-san had done the exact same transfer process on you as he did to me a few days ago, then you never could have cast the spell on those bodies in the first place without reverting back to a burnout state. I have to conclude…" Seikou pointed a finger right in front of the other woman's face. "… that you have bedded him as well."

'Why is she playing detective all of a sudden?' Yami sighed in irritation before addressing the Nanoha replica. "Okay… I admit that I did those things with him. Are you bothered that you were not his first?"

The red clad woman lowered her arm. "A little but there's something else I would like to discuss with you. More importantly, how exactly did you convince him to use that alternative replenishment process in the first place?"

"… so that's what you want to know," murmured Material-D.

"Yuuno-san seemed quite adamant not to go through with that method initially. He said that the first time should be shared between those who care for each other deeply. So I am curious on how you managed to make him see otherwise, Lord of Darkness." Seikou's words were polite but there was something in her body language that made it clear that she knew Yami had influenced their male companion in some way and she wanted to know the exact nature of that influence.

* * *

'Whoever this Ken-chan person is, he certainly has no sense of subtlety if Material-L's method of navigating is any indication,' thought Sette to herself as the Fate replica gleefully brought up one of her legs. "If I may, I would like to point out that this is extremely counterproductive to our objective of escaping the facility without a trace."

"Doing things quietly? That's ninja stuff. When it comes to Magical Girl Warriors, the audience expects lots of explosions! Powered by Truth! Justice! Freedom! Reasonably Priced Love! And a hard-boiled egg! I can't disappoint the readers now, can I?"

*CHOOM*

And there went wall number four.

Sette could only wonder how many more walls Material-L is going to kick down until she got to where she needed. She passed through the newly made access and noticed how plain the hallway looked. No signs of technology anywhere. Just a few plain cells… with one of them holding a familiar face that had waken up after the loud intrusion from Material-L knocking down a wall.

"Sette?"

"… Uno…"


	14. Remembering the Pact

"Sette?"

"… Uno…"

"You're looking well." Uno then noticed the other woman, who was ignoring them and muttering 'Inky Pinky Ponky' under her breath as she determined which wall to break next. "Your companion resembles that woman but her hair is the wrong colour."

"I assure you that she is a different person than the woman I crossed paths with five years ago."

"I see." The elder Number moved closer to the prison bars to make it easier to converse with her sister and that other mage who was with her. "Excuse me but who would you be?"

In an instant, the blue haired woman broke off 'Inky Pinky Ponky' and launched into her introduction. "I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the boogeyman that causes kids to keep wetting their beds until they are twenty four and a half years old! I am Material-L! But you can call me Rai-chan!"

'… this particular replica of Testarossa seems highly unstable,' noted Uno to herself. She would have to see what exactly she wanted from her sister. "What is your business with my sister?"

"She's my new sidekick!" chirped Rai cheerfully. "She was the ideal candidate so I hired her immediately. You, I'm not so sure of since I don't believe we're recruiting mad scientists but if you have a résumé, I can pass it on!"

"Unfortunately, I don't have that on me. However, I ask that you take care of my sister," said Uno as she bowed politely in front of Material-L.

"Yeah, I'll make her into the bestest sidekick ever! All she needs is an overriding theme song and she'll be set!"

She blinked at that response before turning to the pink haired Combat Cyborg. "… are you sure you want to go with someone like her?"

"If only to prevent her from killing people," replied Sette while the Fate replica resumed muttering 'Inky Pinky Ponky' and counting which wall to knock down.

"You've changed, Sette."

"We all change, Uno." There was something in her tone that caught Uno's attention. It was almost as if Sette was upset at seeing her again. "Some just need help along the way."

She knew that this would most likely be the last time she would speak with Sette. With that in mind, she gestured to her fellow Number to come closer. "If you are going to be taking off, then you may as well have this." Uno held up her right thumb and pushed against the thumbnail which slid apart to reveal a hidden compartment underneath. She carefully reached in to take out a small microchip and held it out for Sette.

"Ooh… hidden compartment in the thumbnail! Reminds me of Mr. Data… mayherestinpeace."

"What is this?" asked Sette, ignoring Rai's little rant from behind.

"It is a key to get access to the Doctor's backup lab on Mid-Childa if you're heading in that direction. When you're in range, a map file will automatically be uploaded to the chip to reveal the lab's location. I'm not precisely sure what type of work you will be doing but in case you need supplies and equipment, you can get them there."

Sette could only stare at the chip that rested in the palm of her hand and pondered if she should keep it. "When did you…?"

"It was part of the Doctor's backup plan in the event of his demise. After all, we would have our hands full caring for the clone Doctors and they would need resources to continue his research."

The urge to crush the microchip in her hand instantly flared. "Is that so? Is there anything else you would like to tell me?"

Uno saw how the other Combat Cyborg's hand was twitching, how some of her muscles tensed up slightly, how her eyes flickered with bits of emotion and how her jaw remained firm. It was strange for her to see the new Sette. As such, she wasn't sure if she would take the next little revelation well but since she asked in the first place… "I'm sure you probably know by now that the Doctor approved of Quattro's modifications on your brain."

"As I thought…" Her body language reflected a combination of emotions: sadness, anger and disappointment. She finally relaxed while calmly putting the chip away before turning her back on the elder Number. "Goodbye, Uno."

*CHOOM*

Uno's golden eyes merely followed her departing sister, who disappeared with the Fate replica through the freshly damaged wall. "Farewell, Sette."

* * *

"Well?" From the look on Seikou's face, Yami knew that she wouldn't let this die down so easily.

"Why is it important?"

Material-S narrowed her eyes. "You cared enough about Yuuno-san not to eat his Linker Core right away and have placed some value on him. If you were to discover that he is acting in an odd manner, wouldn't you be curious as well?"

Material-D wondered why that idiot couldn't see just why she did it. "Tell me something, Material-S. Where would all of us be if he knew the truth about mana replenishment and stuck to his beliefs about 'mutual feelings' from the beginning?" She held up a finger to stop the other woman from arguing. "We'd all be dead right now."

"What?"

Yami growled before grabbing the Nanoha replica close to her. "He'd be dead because we would have probably taken his Linker Core like hungry savages and we'd likely be dead because none of us would have found a suitable replacement in time."

"That doesn't answer my question," said Material-S as she got her companion to release her. "I originally asked how you were able to convince him to undergo the replenishment process."

The Hayate replica finally gave the other woman the answer that she was looking for. "I used _Bewusstseinserweiterung_."

It didn't take long for the Starlight Destroyer to recognize that spell. "Mind Bend?"

"Yes."

Immediately, a pink ball of magic formed in Seikou's hand in reaction to her sudden shift in emotion. "You brainwashed him?"

"No!" argued Yami as she prepared her own defensive spell just in case. "I didn't brainwash him. Brainwashing is a distasteful practice only for the lowest of scoundrels, and he wouldn't have any worth as a brainwashed peon!" Besides, Yami had come to value Yuuno for his ingenuity over the past few days. "No, this spell just removes inhibitions and enhances compassion. If anything, this is his true self, one who's not bogged down by the evils of his society." Besides, her book had noted that this spell wasn't an unusual spell, having mentioned that it was a common practice in certain kingdoms. Those rulers would use it all the time to get truthful answers and opinions out of their advisors.

"You still betrayed his trust. What's he going to do when he finds out and you remove the spell on him?"

The Lord of Darkness growled at Seikou and felt a major urge to hit the other Material. "Did it look like I had the luxury to dwell upon that when our lives were at stake?"

"So even if he hated you and never spoke to you again, you would be okay with that?"

"As long as we are all alive, I don't care." Yami really wished that Material-S would get it through her thick skull already. "My first concern, in case you forgot, is making sure that we all survive. If I have to murder a planet or warp a person's mind to ensure our survival, I will. Do you remember the pact we made not long after we began our journey? We would escape the ultimate end and build the future anew with my kingdom being a sanctuary where tragedies like ours would never happen again. If we are to pursue that goal, we all have to survive whatever challenges that are thrown at us."

"Ah, yes… the pact." It was one of the things that helped Material-D maintain that indomitable will even when facing extreme circumstances. The Nanoha replica couldn't exactly recall if her friend had ever spoken about her reasons for creating that pact among the three of them. All she could tell is that somehow, it tied within whatever memories the Lord of Darkness carried within her.

"Yes, the pact. You and Material-L swore an oath that you would be the guardians who would protect the dream. We've come so far and have managed to finally overthrow the Hunger. Now the next step is upon us. Soon, I will need your strength to begin building the new era. So I ask you… will you continue to lend me your power?"

After some thought, Seikou gave her response. "On one condition. You are going to remove what you did to Yuuno-san and explain to everyone just what you did in detail and why you did it. Then you have to accept whatever judgment that Yuuno-san decides."

"Are you going to tell him?"

Seikou shook her head. "No. I will give you the opportunity to set this straight but make no mistake. I will see to it that you have this discussion as soon as possible."

* * *

"Ne, Sette-chan?"

"Hm?" Sette barely paid any attention to the sudden attack from behind as she simply sidestepped to the left, causing the unlucky guard to get a face full of axe (blunt side of course for a non-lethal blow) from Material-L.

"What was that back there?" asked the blue haired woman as she kicked the unconscious man to the side.

"It was closure with my sister. That is all."

"Closure? Ahh… you're lucky, Sette-chan." The Fate replica let out a small wistful sigh just before kicking wall number six down.

*CHOOM*

Sette grew a bit puzzled by Rai's sudden change of mood from cheerful to melancholic. "Lucky? Why is that?"

"I never had that sort of thing with my mama. You know, there's a lotta stuff I wanna talk to her about." She fired a small bolt of electricity to stun the armed party that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time before trudging down the long hallway.

"Would you give a grandiose speech about how you're the terror that flaps in the night? How you're the zit that forms just before a big date? How you're the wrong number that wakes one up at 4 AM? How you're the bubble gum that clings to a person's shoe?" replied the Combat Cyborg in a flat, detached tone.

"Ahahahaha! Those are good ones, Sette-chan! I'll have to remember those!" The laughter didn't last long as her melancholy quickly returned. "Nah, I probably would skip the badass intro and go right to the questions."

"Questions?"

Material-L let out a small laugh. "Okay, maybe a big solid thrashing of her wrinkly ass and then questions. Gotta keep my priorities straight!"

"Then what would you ask her? How do you see the confrontation playing out?" asked Sette, who was now genuinely curious to know more about the background of her 'kidnapper'.

"Well, once she's all bloody and stuff, I would lean down and hold her up against a wall. Force her to look at me directly. And then I'll ask her… 'Why did you look at me with those eyes? Why did you always whip me? Wasn't I… a good girl?'" There was a hint of vulnerability in her tone.

"**It's doubtful that she will say anything. You'll have to take it to a higher level if you do end up in that situation,"** said Vulnificus.

The Fate replica glanced at her axe-like device. "Like what?"

"**Each time she hesitates or stalls for time, you should break a limb or aim for a sensitive nerve to maximize the neural feedback. The truth will come out when fear grips her mind and pain rules her body."**

"Ooh… that sounds deep!" exclaimed Rai.

"I must admit that I find your choice of interrogation method questionable, but if you go through with it, you must keep in mind her pain tolerance and threshold levels. Applying too much pressure at once will prove detrimental to your interrogation efforts as she could be rendered incoherent," said Sette.

"**Wow, she's good,"** chirped the mechanical male voice.

"That's why she's my sidekick!" The Lightning Assailant seemed pretty pleased with herself.

"**If beating the answers out from her is not going to be effective, I propose that we go after your sister's body. The matriarch will bow to your demand for answers if we acquire the canister as she is very attached to it. Then after that…"**

"After that…?" Rai had an unusual gleam in her eye, pondering what could make the situation even sweeter if it were to pass.

"**We break her like how she broke you. The girl's head would make a suitable trophy, wouldn't you agree?"**

"Hmmmm… I dunno about that…" While in the middle of thinking about it, the blue haired mage got to the end of the hallway, gave one big kick to the wall…

*CHONG*

… And found herself a little puzzled.

"Wait a second. That didn't sound right." Material-L looked ahead to see that the wall was still intact. "What the…?"

"We've reached the outer wall. If this is breached, this entire sector of the prison will be exposed to the vacuum of space," replied Sette. "I do believe there are emergency systems in place to seal hull breaches."

"So wall number seven's our lucky number? Works for me! Gonna need a little extra punch for this one though…"

"**I'm on it, ma'am."** Vulnificus loaded a cartridge before transforming into Haken Form.

The Fate replica got into position while a faint yellow glow enveloped her body. "How are you for space travel, Sette-chan?"

"I am certain that the Doctor had not given us the ability to move through zero gravity independently."

"In that case… bibbity bobbity boo!" One little poke later and Sette was now enveloped in a similar aura as well. Satisfied that her partner is ready to travel with her, Material-L twirled her device and swung towards the outer wall with all her strength.

"Light Wing Decapitation!"

Sette had no time to brace herself as Material-L's device smashed through the wall, creating the opening needed to get through. As expected, the vacuum of space was quite strong and nearly forced her off balance but Rai's hand managed to snag the Combat Cyborg to keep her close.

"Hang on, Sette-chan!"

She didn't have a choice as she felt herself floating in zero gravity with the Fate replica dragging her along. Many questions flew into her mind such as how she was able to breathe and how the spell manages to keep an adequate supply of oxygen flowing while disposing of the carbon dioxide. Not to mention simulating the effects of a spacesuit and protecting the flesh from the effects of space vacuum. A quick glance back at the breach on the prison's outer wall showed that purple sealants were already doing their job to seal up the opening.

"Ahhhh… what a big improvement this is after staring at those boring walls for so long!" exclaimed the blue-haired mage.

'Wait a minute… she is talking normally? How is this possible? What type of zero gravity aura spell did she use to do all this?' Sette paused for a moment before trying to say something herself. "So where is your ship?"

"Hmmm… it should be just up ahead." After double checking their position and spotting the odd colour of the ship, Rai started to move when suddenly, the endless darkness of space became replaced by a multi-coloured light of sorts. "Eh…? What's this?"

"The prison's Lightwave Barrier. It's said to be impenetrable with the shield output strong enough to block against a fired shot from an Arc-en-ciel." It was odd that it had not been put up earlier as a precaution but then again, it probably hadn't been easy obtaining the authorization key from the prison's chief of security.

"Hm… I bet I can cut an opening through this barrier. Whaddya think, Vulnificus? Wanna go all Red Tessaiga on it?"

"**Uh… no,"** came the flat response of the device in Rai's hand. **"Transforming into a higher form would deplete the remaining cartridges. Give your companions a call and get them to help out."**

"Okie dokie!"

* * *

'What's with her? If this happened to anyone else, she probably wouldn't have cared. Maybe I was right earlier about that peon enchanting her.' As puzzled as she was, Material-D easily masked her features in order not to lose any more dignity to this ridiculousness. It was absurd on how ungrateful Material-S was acting but it looked like she would have to go along with this. After all, it would be very annoying to replace such a powerful and reliable servant as the Starlight Destroyer.

"Alright… I'll go and reverse the spell and explain what happened. Step aside."

"Not now. Yuuno-san's in the middle of devising a new flight plan. You can approach him at a later time."

The moment that Seikou released the magic that she had been gathered earlier, the Hayate replica felt a mixture of both relief and annoyance. "Honestly, you're fussing way too much over this issue."

"Am I?" replied the Nanoha replica with a dangerous glare. "Even if you are 'royalty', there are certain lines that not even you can cross."

Before Material-D could reply, she heard the voice of Material-L in her head. _"Yami-chan! Yami-chan!" _

"_Call me 'Your Majesty'! What is it?" _

"_Some barrier just went up! I might need a bit of help getting back to the ship since I'm carrying stuff!" _

"_Understood. We'll create an opening for you as soon as possible."_ As soon as she broke off the telepathic connection, she turned to Material-S.

"What is it?"

"Earlier, I sent out Material-L to pick up supplies from that hidden world. It looks like she needs help returning back safely so I need you out there."

Seikou carefully examined the other woman's face to see if she was being truthful or if she merely made up an excuse to get out of the earlier conversation. It didn't take too long for her to recognize that Yami was being truthful in this case as she couldn't even feel Rai's energy signature on the ship. "Roger that."

Just as she prepared to step out, Material-D called out after her. "A quick question, Material-S."

"Hm?"

"Since you wish to be more honest with my scholar, does this mean you will tell him the truth about what you did back on that planet? To the Seekers of Absolute Truth?"

It was a simple question but at the same time, Seikou felt uneasy at the thought of how he may react when he learned that she had lied earlier. And looking at Yami's smug little smile wasn't helping either. "I…"

In an instant, the smug smile was replaced with a more reassuring one. "Ah, don't fret about it now. We can discuss this later. Just go help Material-L."

"R-right…" As Material-S made her way out to the docking area which was used to connect with spaceports, she happened to pass by the room where Yuuno was hunting for a solution to the flight problem.

"Assuming that her power level is the same as Hayate's, Yami's magical point values should be… argh, where did I put that information?" The Librarian quickly pulled up some more files on his laptop with his focus squarely on the work at hand.

'Yuuno-san, if you knew what I did, would your warm hand still reach out for mine?' The Starlight Destroyer realized that she was lingering and continued making her trek to her destination.

It only took a moment for her to make it to the docking port and ensure that the doors were sealed properly so that the vacuum effect wouldn't reach the rest of the ship. Once that was completed, her hand grasped the blue gem hanging around her neck.

"I am the one who gives you this charge: release your power to your contracted master. As the searing wind reduces all creation to ashes and the morning stars scatter among the cosmos, so let power fill my being and strike fear in my enemy's heart! Luciferion, start up!"

"**Start up sequence initiated."** The difference was immediately noticeable as the device no longer sounded mechanical. In fact, it seemed to be back to its original organic feminine voice which Rai identified as sounding a lot like Shirley Millner if Seikou recalled correctly back when they started travelling. The most likely reason why it had become mechanical was due to her slow gradual decrease in power over the years.

Her barrier jacket instantly replaced her red dress with the device taking its default shape and for some reason; she felt an odd chill run down her spine. Better do a quick check up. "Run quick self-diagnostic."

"**Mana flow is stable. All offensive and defensive functions are operating within normal parameters."**

'… then what is that chill?' After a moment, she decided not to think about it too much and focus on the mission at hand. Then she could get back to the warmth provided by Yuuno-san that she had grown fond of quickly. _"Material-D, I'm ready." _

"_Decompressing the docking area. Opening external doors."_ A beat. _"And call me 'Your Majesty'!"_

Seikou quickly summoned a purple aura to surround her body and protect her from the effects of space while the external door opened behind her. "Let's get this over with, Luciferion. Set our course."

"**Course set. Proceed heading 1138. Stay frosty, my Mistress."**

With the zero gravity spell in place, Material-S let herself fall backwards into the vastness of space.

"Starlight Destroyer… launching!"


	15. If Wishes were Cheat Codes

"So how do you plan on bypassing the barrier?" asked Sette.

"Don't worry about it, Sette-chan! I have a plan!"

The way Material-L said that didn't inspire any confidence in the Combat Cyborg. "Does it involve growing a white moustache, sprouting rainbow-coloured butterfly wings behind you and short circuiting all the prison's equipment, including the six satellites which are generating the barrier?" Honestly, it seemed that being around this mage was rubbing off on her, especially with these strange responses just flying out of her mouth before she even had a chance to think about it.

"Unfortunately, I don't have the God Mode code. No matter how many times I ask Vulnificus to enter IDDQD or Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start…" The Fate replica merely glared at her scythe that opted to preserve its dignity by remaining silent on the subject.

"Then what is your plan to deal with the barrier? My basic understanding of the Lightwave Barrier is that all six generators have to be taken offline at the same time for the shield to drop."

That crazy grin was back on Rai's face in an instant. "We're getting a little help for that actually… and I'm sure that she would appreciate that little tidbit of info back there."

* * *

**"Admiral, it is 0500 hours."**

It didn't take long for the alarm clock to rouse Chrono from his slumber. He wasn't a heavy sleeper and he often made sure to take good care of himself when he could even when his job rarely allowed him a chance to get a healthy night's sleep.

After taking a moment to wash his face and change into his uniform, he mentally braced himself for the barrage of messages to come in his electronic mailbox.

**"You have 62 messages."**

At least it's a step up from eighty-three the day before and one hundred and fifty four when this whole fiasco started. A quick scan allowed him to sort which messages were actually of importance and which ones were simply 'helpful' reminders to get back to his superiors with the latest status updates.

But one in particular caught his eye. 'Sender: Forensics Division 519… and it's encrypted?' He quickly sat down at his computer terminal, opened up the login screen to the restricted access server and typed in a password.

**"Access Denied."**

'Ah, right… changed my password to KoRyuOh. Let's try this again.'

The system menu popped right up after he entered the correct password and he navigated his way to where the message would be stored. As expected, it was a rather large message which included a detailed report and some video footage… regarding a wrecked ship that matched the description and make of Yuuno's personal craft.

It looks like he was going to need to take his morning coffee in his quarters while he went over this.

* * *

_"So that's how it is. Thank you for the information and stay tight. I will think of something."_

_"Okay!"_

With that, the telepathic conversation between Material-S and Material-L ended, leaving the Nanoha replica alone to plan her next move. She would need to test that barrier herself and there was only one way to efficiently do that.

"Engage Nightingale System. Authorization Code: Epyon OZ-13."

**"Authorization acknowledged."**

With the lock no longer in place, her purple aura changed to a bright red one as her barrier jacket colours flipped around with red being the dominant colour and black being the decorative colour. In addition, a visor with horns at the end and only a single red monoeye glowing against the black glass instantly appeared around her eyes.

Oddly enough, that icy feeling didn't go away. Seikou remembered never feeling this uncomfortable when using this system before but for some reason…

No, she has to stay focused. She can't let her emotions get the better of her. Once she focused her mind into a more tranquil state, she issued her next order. "Luciferion, ACS."

**"Entering Alflemon Charge System Mode."** The device reassembled itself as a red spearhead equipped with a rocket engine and ports to sprout any extra energy wings in case additional speed is required. While it did that, a magic circle formed underneath Seikou's red footwear while sporting different coloured spikes around the circle that peeled themselves off and hovered behind Seikou.

"Phantasmic Fangs, Evaluation Mode. Run the test series on the barrier ahead." The spikes took off, each one with their own different set of properties to test against the barrier. As they each made contact and dissipated after the test was finished, the data was fed back to the visor of Material-S, who quickly analyzed the results. "So the best way to pierce through is with a physical weapon with an anti-beam coating?"

**"I have that covered, my Mistress."**

Ah, yes. Luciferion had analyzed an enemy weapon with that property four years ago and managed to copy it in case she needed to fend off a melee fighter wielding a weapon of light. "I haven't forgotten. How many cartridges do you have left?"

**"There are five cartridges in my current magazine."**

'And I won't be able to get new magazines until Yami gets some fresh and empty cartridge shells that she can charge with mana.' At least she had enough to carry out this mission. "Get ready to pierce the barrier then."

**"Roger."**

While Luciferion consumed two cartridges to activate the rocket engines and form the energy wings, Seikou summoned a series of nine bits. One of them looked like a crystal prism while the rest appeared to be red spearheads just like her device. Once preparations were completed, the Nanoha replica flew at maximum speed towards the prison and had the tip of her device collide with the barrier. The tip managed to get through but she needed a bigger opening. "Go, Fangs!"

Two bits flew to the edge and propped themselves up, forcing the gap wider to allow entry for the remaining six bits and the crystal prism bit. Each individual red spearhead targeted one of the satellites which generated the barrier while the crystal prism took a centred position.

**"Firing preparations completed,"** said Luciferion as it consumed the final three cartridges.

"Halberd Shooter!" The energy discharge from the device flew towards the crystal which split it into six separate directions to be reabsorbed by the spearheads in order to maintain momentum and firing power. The whole sequence only lasted a few seconds as each satellite was completely obliterated by the firepower of the Starlight Destroyer.

This didn't go unnoticed by her fellow replica who instantly fired over a telepathic message. _"That was so cool, Seikou-chan!"_

_"Let's get out of here, Rai-chan. Hopefully, Yuuno-san will be ready with a new flight plan."_

_"So Yuu-nii's okay? Oh, thank God… no, I don't want to use God. Or Tsuzuki. Um, thank Gundam? No, that's Setsuna's thing… "_

* * *

From her spot on the command deck, Yami saw the explosions behind the multi-coloured barrier before it flickered and vanished. 'As expected of the Starlight Destroyer…'

Speaking of Seikou, she received a quick telepathic call from the Nanoha replica. _"Mission accomplished. Also-" _Material-D activated the switch to open the external doors and allow her companions to enter the ship safely. Once she confirmed that the ship had safely retrieved the trio, she restored life support to the area and restored pressure levels to normal.

_"Good work. I'll prepare the docking area right away."_

… wait a second. A trio? _"Can someone explain why I'm detecting three life signs down there?"_

_"It would probably be better if you came down yourself and spoke to Material-L on this. She has apparently acquired a 'sidekick'."_

_"I'll be there in a bit." _The Hayate replica closed the telepathic connection and got up from her chair just in time to run into Yuuno who nearly dropped the small stack of papers he had in his hand.

"Sorry!" The Librarian quickly passed by the Lord of Darkness and took a seat before his fingers flew across the navigation control to enter in a new flight plan.

"Just what has gotten you so excited, peasant?" asked Yami in a tone that was a mixture of curiosity and irritation.

"I finally figured it out! I know how to compensate for the natural warp in the space time fabric that you and the others create by being near each other!" He was going back and forth between his notes and the work console.

"Ah, yes… I believe that Material-S had brought that to my attention earlier…" She paused for a moment, wondering if this would be a good time to talk about what she did to him but upon seeing him hard at work, Yami decided to leave it be for now. There would be another opportunity later. "Well then, I'll leave you to your work."

As she slipped out, she felt Yersinia Kreuz connect with her mind. _So it appears the spell is holding quite nicely. It looks like he's now ready to be molded into the ideal servant._

'Hmph…'

_What's with that attitude? Did I do something to annoy you?_

'I'm not annoyed at you. I'm annoyed at myself for not achieving what I wanted.' Yami paused in her walk to the docking area where the others should be. 'My natural charisma wasn't enough to make him see the value of becoming my subject. In the end, I had to resort to using a spell to set his mind free. I cannot take any true satisfaction in this.'

_It wasn't like we had a choice. He perfectly understood what needed to be done and yet he still refused due to his beliefs about mutual feelings and that other gibberish._

'In a sense, I find that an admirable quality. To hold on to his loyalties and principles to the end, even if that loyalty was misplaced to begin with-' Material-D paused as she felt an odd throbbing in her head. 'Ungh… blasted migraine.'

_Blame it on your friend for bringing this troublesome point up. What's done is done so what's the point of revisiting this foolishness?_

She shook the headache off before resuming her walk. 'You… have a point. But at the very least, I should see him privately. Determine what has to be done and if her point of making amends is valid.'

The Tome merely grumbled in response. _How utterly troublesome…_

* * *

*THUD*

"Ooff!" It was the only sound Touma made as he ended up with his back on the ground thanks to that reversal throw that Einhart pulled off. "Ugh… if you don't mind, can we take five?"

"Very well."

"Thanks." He rolled over and managed to get his hands and knees against the surface to rise from the ground. It took a bit longer than expected since he was also trying to catch his breath.

As for his companion, she carefully observed him with a critical eye. 'Hm… if I continue his physical conditioning at this rate, agility and coordination should increase by 5% in a week. Speed and physical strength will probably rise by 6% and his muscular development should benefit as a result. He should be well on his way to obtaining the optimal body mass index just like my ancestor Claus.'

"And… up we go…!" grunted Touma under his breath.

'Yes, the optimal body mass index. Perfect pectorals, perfect posterior-' All train of thought came to a screeching halt in Einhart's mind. 'WHAT AM I THINKING?'

After finally getting back to his feet, the boy noticed his friend's face that was turning redder by the second. "Uh… you okay?"

"Okay, break time's over! Let's go!" Yes, sparring with the boy should help her keep these hormone driven thoughts out of her brain.

"Aw, geez. Already?" And he thought Nove-sensei was a harsh trainer…

* * *

Yuuno finally finished inputting in the flight path into the navigational control. Now that he has calculated the compensating factor, even if the Materials warp the space time fabric, the ship will still end up only a light distance away from Mid-Childa. As it was suggested by his research to activate the course lock-in module to prevent other flight deviations, he took the time to find the function on the X-3's drive and activate it.

'Everything's all set! Course set… and engage!' Once he tapped the last key and felt the ship move back into dimensional space, he let out a happy sigh. This time, he will make it home for sure! The others should be pleased to hear this as well…

And speaking of the girls, they were squabbling rather loudly in the hall. Best to do something about that. The minute he got up from his seat and opened the door, he felt someone tackle him to the ground.

"Does she hafta go back, Yuu-nii? She gave me those sad, sad puppy doggy eyes! I had to take her with me!" wailed Material-L who had deactivated her barrier jacket and was straddling him in that tight purple leather outfit of hers.

"Wait… what? Can someone explain what's going on?" groaned Yuuno as he tried to get his bearings.

"She did not look at you with 'sad, sad puppy doggy eyes' as you put it so crudely," came the sharp tone of Material-D from behind.

"You took her because you wanted a sidekick for your magical girl adventures," said Material-S in her usual monotone before hearing a rustling sound and stepping aside.

A quick glance showed that the noise came from the tall woman who just emerged from one of the spare quarters. She had pink hair and was dressed in some spare clothes that had probably belonged to one of the previous occupants. It consisted of a simple blue dress shirt, a pair of jeans and black boots.

"Um… who are you and where did you come from?" asked the bewildered Librarian.

"My designation is Sette. I originated from Cell #4316 of the 'Lubsoulim' Orbit Prison's 6th branch on Uninhabited World 17," said the pink haired woman in a neutral tone that sounded a lot like Seikou's.

"…would you please leave me alone for a moment? I want to engage in a meditation technique passed down through my clan for centuries."

"What is it called, Yuu-nii?" asked Rai in a curious tone.

"Screaming."

"You know, that meditation thingy sounds like a lotta fun!" said the blue haired mage in her usual childish and cheerful tone.

A visible twitch could be seen on Yuuno's face. "Dear God… Kaiser… any cosmic entity that is out there overlooking this universe… what have I done to deserve this? Whatever it is, I am sorry for it. Twice over. Ten times over. A hundred times over."

"God doesn't exist in this universe, Yuu-nii. There's only Masaki Tsuzuki… but you shouldn't pray to him because he's a big dick who pretty much ruined the universe already. Although if anything, you can also blame the Lesbian Legion of NanoFate for-"

"NOT. HELPING," growled the Librarian, interrupting Material-L from going any further. The rather upset look in his green eyes was also enough to cause the Fate replica to get off him so he can get up. "Sorry everyone but… can I just be left alone for a bit while I contemplate the end of my career?"

Sette looked at the blond man who looked like he was on the verge of a nervous break-down although he was doing an admirable job of keeping his composure in front of his companions, who seemed rather affected by how agitated he was. She couldn't tell if she was reading the Testarossa replica's expressions correctly but there was mostly concern and worry… with just a hint of fear. The other two women seemed to mirror that expression although one of them, the one with the silvery hair, had concealed her facial features behind an open paper fan. "...Yuuno-san?"

"That includes you too, Seikou. Please…" Yuuno slipped past the group of four, ignoring the slightly pained look of the Nanoha replica, before he entered his quarters and locked himself in.

"That name back there…" The Combat Cyborg turned to the red clad woman and tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. "Is that man Yuuno Scrya, head librarian at the Infinity Library of the Time-Space Administration Bureau?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"I see." Her mind flew back to the time when she and her fellow Numbers were going over Bureau profiles just before they engaged in their plans. The Doctor had taken special note of his skills in information gathering and analysis. In fact, the Librarian was probably a driving force behind the Doctor's tendency to create multiple contingency plans. "So, why is he here?"

"Yuuno-san was kind enough to help us in our time of need and is now giving us a ride back to his home."

"So that's how it is." Sette's face remained unchanged even though she felt an odd sensation in her chest. 'What is this feeling? Is it because of the fact that we will be going to Mid-Childa? Or perhaps… the thought of getting closure with the others who have made new lives for themselves…'

Yami snapped her fan shut before speaking. "Material-S, can you come with me for a moment? We need to discuss something in private. And as for you, Material-L…" She paused for a moment to think about what order she should give to the Fate replica. "… just keep an eye on your new sidekick for now. Whatever you do, do not bother the peasant until he has emerged from his quarters."

"B-but…" Rai's lower lip trembled just as tears started forming in those odd red eyes of hers. "I wanna say sorry for… whatever I did…"

"It's best if we give him a chance to calm down, Rai-chan. You will get an opportunity later to explain yourself to him," said Seikou in a rather gentle tone.

"Okay…" She wiped her eyes with her purple leather sleeve before taking a hold of Sette's arm. "Come on, Sette-chan. Let's chat for a bit. Gots lots of stuff to tell ya! And I wanna find something out!"

"Eh?" She felt herself being yanked away while the other two women quietly conversed with each other in the command deck.

"For starters, why did that blue book shake a little when you passed by it earlier to get changed into your Fuujin cosplay?" asked Rai as she led the Combat Cyborg into the room where the book had been stored.

"I am at a loss on why it would have such a reaction."

"Then let's find out!" Material-L took the book and shoved it right in front of the taller pink haired woman. Much to her surprise, the book started reacting in her presence.

_"Compatible user detected. Commencing testing sequence..."_

Sette just blinked, unsure as to what was going on as her entire surroundings vanished into darkness although she was still able to make out her hands and the rest of her body. It was as if a source of light was originating from within her to allow her to see in this pitch black world. 'What is…this?'

As if things weren't confusing enough, a large gust of wind blew in right in front of her. Even though she shielded her eyes, she was able to make out a tornado forming in front along with a humanoid figure descending from within the tornado before it waved an arm to dismiss it entirely. Once the wind effect stopped, she carefully observed the being, who seemed to have a purple upper torso with red claws serving as fingers. The bottom half was white with golden hooves serving as feet and the creature also had a strange tail which resembled a fan of sorts. _"Your bond with the Sky is that strong…? No wonder you were chosen as a candidate."_

"What do you mean by that? Who are you?"

_"I am Pandemona, Guardian Force of the Azure Grimoire. And if you wish to understand just what you are getting into, then you must play the game."_ The humanoid snapped its claws before a large rectangular grid appeared underneath and split itself into nine smaller rectangles.

"I assume that I have no choice in the matter?"

A shrug came from the Guardian Force. _"Well, if you choose not to play, then you are free to lose yourself in the Grimoire's contents. Of course, that means that you will never return to the waking world. The only means of escape is to have the Grimoire formally accept you as its Master and that can only happen by playing this game."_

"I see. I accept this challenge."

_"Splendid! Here's your starter deck and a rule list. Please take a few moments to go through the game rules as we will be switching victory conditions and trade rules as we go along our race to ten wins…"_

Sette took the deck of cards and the booklet that instantly appeared in front of her thanks to Pandemona and immediately began reviewing the rules. '… Triple Triad…?'


	16. Doing It For The Art

"What was it that you wanted to talk about?" asked Seikou as she was pulled aside by Yami.

"Do you still intend to go through with it? Are you going to tell him the truth about what happened back on that planet?"

"Is this really the time to talk about this?" That uncomfortable feeling was back again.

"I did say that we would continue the discussion before you went to help Material-L," said the Lord of Darkness. "Look, you saw how the peasant reacted to what she did earlier and you know how she often does things on a whim without thinking about the long-term effects. How do you think he will react when he hears about what you did? Especially since he knows that you are of sound mind and are aware of the consequences when you drained those religious fools."

The thought of how he may react greatly bothered the Nanoha replica but she knew that misdirection was something Material-D had a talent in. If she hadn't been firm in her resolve to come clean with the Librarian, she probably would have been swayed by Yami's words and left the subject alone. "I have already made my choice. It's the only way that I can be worthy of the warmth that he has shared with me."

The Hayate replica had to resist the urge to facepalm. "Good grief…"

"What about you? Why are you continuing your attempts to talk me out of this course of action?" asked Material-S.

"I'm only asking that you carefully consider the consequences of what could happen. Right now, the peasant is extremely stressed thanks to Material-L's urge to get a 'sidekick'. If you were to drop in on him now and tell him what happened, I have no doubt that he will move beyond the breaking point and change for the worse. And the last thing I need is another subject that has a crazed mental state similar to Material-L."

And speaking of Material-L, the two could hear her frantic movements as she approached them rapidly. "Yami-chan! Seikou-chan!"

"Call me 'Your Majesty'!" growled Material-D. "What is it?"

"Sette-chan…! Sette-chan is…!"

The two shared a quick glance before moving past Rai to get to the bottom of this new development.

* * *

*DOO DO DO DO… DOO DO… DOO DO DO!*

There was that annoying theme music again but it was the last time that Sette would have to hear it since she has reached the required number of wins. "This is my win."

"_Well, I'll be. I guess congratulations are in order,"_ said Pandemona as the cards and the playing board, which held more pink squares than blue, faded into nothing. _"Now then, let's start with the imprinting process."_

"…" Even with various oddly shaped magical circles surrounding her, the Combat Cyborg showed no display of emotion.

"_What's wrong? Shouldn't you be more excited about obtaining power that you can use to obtain victory and glory over your enemies?"_

"Power, glory, victory… those things don't excite me at all," said Sette in a quiet tone. "For what purpose should I gather power for? Where should I seek glory? Without clear answers for those questions, victory would be meaningless."

If Pandemona had any facial expressions, it would have expressed surprise and intrigue. _"Hoo boy… you really are an interesting one. Looks like we found ourselves one intriguing master. If anything, at least I'm glad we're not bonding with a fool likely to succumb to the Grimoire's power."_

"I care not for whatever power you may offer me."

"_Really? Not even to protect what you treasure the most? Everyone has something worth protecting. Whether it is pride, family, friends…"_

"… family…?"

The Guardian Force felt pleased upon knowing that it had struck a chord. _"So that's how it is. It's not surprising really as family is a bigger draw than friends. The need to protect family is probably a very common reason why power is sought. Am I correct?"_

Sette paused to carefully consider what exactly she felt when she heard Pandemona mention family. "It would be a reasonable conclusion to come to for most people but not in my case."

"_Oh?"_

"I… have not spoken with my sisters for many years. When I do see them again, there are many things that I wish to communicate to them but I do not believe I am capable of putting them into words. So I will do it in a language that they are all familiar with: through battle."

"_Oh ho ho… you are an interesting one. Let's get the imprinting done quickly so we can move on to the good stuff!"_ Once again, the magical circles spread themselves out around the pink haired Combat Cyborg as the Grimoire begun to react.

"_**Restriction 666 release… Dimensional Interruption Imaginary Number Formed! Azure Grimoire, Imprint!"**_

And once again, Sette's surroundings faded away into oblivion.

* * *

This little ritual was something she had resolved to keep ever since she got her promotion to her new job. With everyone's time being consumed more and more by their work, it was difficult to find a time when the others could just sit down to a breakfast together and enjoy each other's company before heading off to tackle the daily grind. But she managed to hammer out one day in the work week and got the others to stick with it.

Today, Hayate Yagami had decided to go with a Western style breakfast since that was always hearty enough to get everyone energized for the day. Of course that meant waking up earlier to prepare the feast of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, biscuits (a special recipe courtesy of old Uncle Graham), hash browns and pancakes but she was more than willing to go that extra distance for her family.

"How early do ya gotta get up to prepare food like this with our schedules?" asked a yawning Agito, who had freshly changed out of her sleep wear into her Bureau uniform.

"Good morning to you too," said the young woman with a light giggle as she greeted the others who came to the dining room table. A separate dog dish filled to the top with the meat breakfast items was set aside for Zafira as he typically ate in his animal form.

Shamal pouted a little as she took her seat. "Geez… wasn't it my turn for this week? I could have helped you know."

"And possibly spend the rest of this morning with indigestion? No thanks," replied Signum in a light teasing tone. "While your cooking has improved over the years, it still has some ways to go."

"Well, I like it!" chirped Rein, who seemed to be getting back to her cheerful energetic self. "And so does Hayate!"

Before she could get involved in the conversation, she heard a distinct chime that indicated an incoming call to her residence. And only certain members of the Bureau had her number which meant that this was going to be a work related call. "Wow, you never seem to get a break," said Vita before stuffing a piece of toast in her mouth.

"I know," groaned Hayate in response. Dammit, this is supposed to be family time! The time for everyone to get together, eat, be merry and relaxed! Excusing herself from the table, she stepped into the kitchen to take the call. "Yagami speaking."

"_Did I call at a bad time?"_ asked the image of Chrono Harlaown from the other side.

Any annoyance she may have felt earlier quickly vanished upon seeing his face. "We were just sitting down for breakfast, Chrono-kun. Is there something wrong?"

"_There's been a new development on the Materials case. I thought that you might like to hear about it."_

That definitely got her attention. "Please go on."

"_I got a video report from Forensics Division 519 regarding a damaged space vessel on an unidentified world just outside of Bureau space. They've positively identified it as Yuuno's ship."_

"Were they able to find him?"

Chrono shook his head from the other side. _"They scanned the entire planet and didn't pick up his life signs. What they did find was a wrecked area in a forest, a large scorch mark close to where his ship was parked and signs that another ship had passed through the area."_

Her eyes widened. "You don't think…?"

"_At this point, we have to brace ourselves for the worst case scenario,"_ replied the Admiral in a grim tone. _"But it's still early to jump to conclusions. The team also discovered that the shuttle's database has been wiped clean. The only way that could have happened is if the command code for a full deletion had been issued by the person who holds it."_

She was well aware of how picky on-board computers can be accepting orders when command codes are involved. "So Yuuno had to give the order himself."

"_Precisely. If anything, this just proves how tricky these 'Materials' are. Not only do they force him to wipe out every bit of data as a preventive measure, they probably switched ships to make it even harder for us to find their trail."_ He gave a small irritated sigh. _"You figure that picking up their magical signatures would be fairly straightforward since they should be similar to yours but so far, our attempts to track them haven't been bearing any fruit."_

"Why are you having trouble?" asked Hayate, clearly puzzled by his frustration.

"_Right now, we're getting dimensional dampeners installed all over Mid-Childa. In the event that they do manage to make it here, the dampeners can prevent any tectonic disturbances that may be caused by warping of the space time fabric. The problem is that these things have huge power requirements and have to be tied into central power generators around the world. That could mean a delayed response time for communications, sensor readings and things like that."_

"There's no way to bypass it?"

"_Unfortunately no. The engineers are working to try and find an alternative solution to this but the only other option I can see is throwing down a big AMF to lower everybody's magical values so that the space time fabric stays stable and intact."_

The young woman frowned at that idea. "That could be dangerous. Not everyone's used to operating in an AMF since it's very taxing maintaining any sort of magic while inside."

He knew she was speaking from her experience being on the Saint's Cradle itself for a little bit. _"Well, it's only an option. We're probably going to stick with the first plan and hopefully, we can either lower the power requirements of those dampeners or get another large source of power for them separate from the main power grid."_

"Good luck with that. And thanks for keeping me in the loop. By the way, are you going to tell Nanoha and Fate?"

"_I would rather not since we don't have anything conclusive with this report aside from the fact that we're facing some very smart and resourceful enemies. If they heard this, they would be pretty distracted and unable to focus."_

She wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of withholding this information but she could understand his position. "Alright but I'll have to tell them if they ask me about it."

"_Fair enough. Harlaown out."_

_

* * *

_When Sette came to, she found herself lying on the bed in her quarters. She also felt some sort of odd sensation hovering over her left eye. 'This is…?'

"Sette-chan, you're awake!" exclaimed the excited voice of Material-L.

She tried flexing a muscle but found that her body was not responding. "I… can't move…?"

"Apparently, the magical device that Material-L has found is undergoing some sort of reaction," said Material-D. "Unfortunately, I do not have any data on this particular device to explain what is happening properly."

Before the Combat Cyborg could ask for clarification, she heard someone speaking in her mind. It was a similar voice to that of Pandemona's but with a slightly higher pitch. _Sorry about that. There's still quite a bit of work to be done._

'You are…?'

_Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. My name… well, to properly pronounce my name would require you to rip out your tongue and stitch it back on in a certain way so you can just address me as JD. I am the Artificial Intelligence programmed to assist the master of the Azure Grimoire._

"What's wrong?" asked Material-S. "You are making some strange faces."

"This device is speaking to me telepathically. Please wait a moment," said Sette before she resumed conversing with her new device. 'Can you explain to me what you are doing?'

_First, the Grimoire needed to directly interface with your brain to begin resequencing the nervous system to match your specifications and to enable you to properly utilize Aura Magic. This is why it has taken on the form of an eye patch which is covering the left eye._

'Specifications? Aura magic?'

_You wished to return to peak combat condition. And in addition, you wished to be fit enough in the event that you had to take on… seven opponents at once?_ JD paused for a second. _Just who are you planning to fight anyway?_

'It is merely a precaution for the worst case scenario.' After all, she would have to deal with all seven sisters who crossed over to work for the TSAB and their affiliates sooner or later and she wanted to be ready in the event that they try to rush her down simultaneously.

_Ah. In that case, the whole process will take a few more hours. Once you have regained mobility, I will run a few simulations so that you can get used to your new reflexes and start learning how to make use of what the Grimoire has to offer._

"Jiiiiiiiiiiiiii~"

"Would you stop doing that, Material-L? It's giving me a headache," complained Yami before switching her glare over to the bedridden Sette. "Well? Is this 'device' giving you problems?"

"Negative. It is merely completing a process so that it properly integrates with my body. However, I will be incapacitated for some time," replied the Combat Cyborg.

"So there was nothing to worry about then." Seikou found a sense of relief in that since it wouldn't be something else to bother Yuuno.

"What a waste of my time," grumbled the Lord of Darkness before she let out a small yawn and departed for her own quarters. "I am going to get some rest. Material-L, you can watch over your 'sidekick'. Material-S, you can take the bridge."

"Understood," said the Nanoha replica. "Rai-chan, I'll leave things here for you."

The blue haired woman gave a clumsy salute. "Roger!" As soon as Seikou left, she resumed staring intensely at her sidekick. "Jiiiiiiiiiiiiii~"

"Can you please stop that?"

* * *

'If anything, I cannot complain too much about this new development. A new servant who has been able to unlock a strange new ability…' Yami smiled at the thought of her inner court expanding. 'I wonder… what would be the optimum number of servants?'

She already knew that she wanted to cap the number where the marginal benefit that a new servant brought would be equal to the marginal cost (which in this case would be the living and work expenses that would undoubtedly be incurred). But measuring the value per servant was a whole new field that she was ill equipped to handle. Perhaps that peon would be able to lend her a hand with that.

'The peasant…' She stopped for a moment and her eyes darted to the only closed door in the corridor. 'Just what is wrong with him? His lack of composure is an embarrassment!'

It didn't take long for Material-D to change her direction and stop in front of the closed door. She pondered on how she should approach this while retaining the gracefulness that royalty commanded. 'Blast the door down? Command him to open up? Knock politely?'

Then she paused for a moment to think about why she felt like talking to him in the first place. The whole composure thing she thought up earlier… … that just felt like an excuse to go visit him in the first place. Why was that? What was this burning need to thoroughly make him understand that he belongs in her court?

In any case, the only way to properly resolve that need was to earn his loyalty properly. That would mean removing that enchantment she had used earlier. It was going to be an annoying uphill battle since she knew that the peon would lash out at her. 'Honestly, he better be worth this effort in the end.'

_What effort?_

Yami was a bit startled on hearing the voice of her device so suddenly since she was certain she hadn't established a connection. Then again, it's not like it's that difficult for the device to initiate a connection by itself. 'The effort of talking to the peon and restoring him to his previous state so I can properly win him over as my subject.'

_I don't understand what you're trying to do but this is obviously a result of fatigue. Go to sleep and forget about this._

'I'm not content to let this slide-'

_Go. To. Bed._

She didn't have time for a retort as she felt that powerful migraine again. Like a sledgehammer going all out inside her skull. 'What is…?' She was about to collapse when she was caught by the Starlight Destroyer.

"Are you alright?"

"… … g-guh…" Yami couldn't even respond properly. All she wanted was for that damn pounding to stop.

* * *

It was peaceful and quiet in her quarters with the only noise being the light humming of the ship's engines vibrating through the walls. Of course, Sette knew such silence wouldn't last since Material-L wasn't the type of person to sit there quietly like an obedient girl.

"So what's it like?"

"Hm?"

"The eye patch, Sette-chan!" exclaimed the Fate replica. "Seeing with one eye and stuff!"

"Actually, even with the patch on, I can still see with my left eye. There's no change in my depth perception," replied the Combat Cyborg. "In a sense, it's like a monocle."

Rai had a small pout upon hearing that. "Really? And I had such an inspirational speech ready for you too in case you were going to scream 'Despair! Seeing with only one eye has left me in despair!'"

"… … I should have known you were going to say something like that."

"Still wanna hear my speech anyway? I really worked hard on it!"

Sette merely sighed in annoyance. "I can't stop you anyways so do as you wish."

Material-L grinned before clearing her throat. "First things first: don't think of yourself as handicapped. Think of yourself as handicapable! Even though you may have lost an eye, that doesn't mean you can stop being badass! Take that Sagat guy from Street Fighter. He's only got one eye and yet he still keeps top tier status!"

It didn't take long for the pink haired woman to tune out her companion and try conversing with the Azure Grimoire's AI. 'You never answered my question earlier. What is Aura Magic?' Since she's going to be down for a bit, she might as well try and figure out what she was getting herself into.

_Aura magic is a style of magic that one uses to enhance your own physical abilities to a degree. A true master of Aura Magic can control their bodies perfectly._

'Perfectly?'

_Well, if you lost an arm, you could regenerate it without taking much time to do so. Also, you can buff up certain physical aspects of your body while inflicting status ailments on your enemies._

'So, it's just a style of magic to enhance your physical abilities?'

_That's just the basics. At the highest levels, you'll find that even the laws of reality are easy to manipulate to your own whims. Of course, reaching that level would take many years, if not decades, to do so. There are also other limits but you'll find out on your own as your skill improves. For now, you should know that you cannot affect ordinary metal, certain creature species..._

'Metal? I have metal circuits in my body. Would that not interfere with the Aura Magic?'

JD sounded rather surprised by that. _Huh… no wonder the integration process is taking so long. Just to clarify, the metal that's a part of your internal body won't interfere with the Aura Magic but if you are attacked by a weapon made out of normal metal that is not enchanted in some way, that would be disruptive to your aura._

'That's a rather odd weakness...' She paused for a moment before asking her next question. 'What about combat applications?'

_Any attack spells with this system would strike the aura of a person before their body._

'Aura?'

_Every living being has an aura to it. It determines our magic abilities._

'So, it's like a Linker Core then.'

_I don't know what a Linker Core is but if this Linker Core is the source of magic that feeds into your aura, then an attack on the aura would also be an attack on the Linker Core in a way._

'In a way?'

_All magical spells amplify the aura around the user based on the mana that is used to power the spell. Most of the time, it's invisible to the naked eye._

"Sette-chan, you aren't listening!" wailed Rai, snapping the Combat Cyborg out of her telepathic conversation. "Ah, geez… and I was just gonna start telling you the juicy stuff on why I recruited you!"

"Really?" asked Sette in her usual neutral tone.

"Yep! I told you back in that kitchen that there's a source pulling the strings behind a lot of events in this universe. A source that has vast influence over the way things unfold. We're going to go after those sources, Sette-chan!"

"An assassination mission?"

"No! Massive befriending!" There was that super mega happy grin along with that weird eerie glint in her red eyes.

"… … I don't follow."

Material-L immediately got into her 'informative' lecture. "The source can be divided into primary and secondary influences. The primary one is Masaki Tsuzuki. Of course, the problem is that he's very elusive. Hardly any photos of him! Once we manage to pass the Final Frontier, I was thinking of knocking down the Temple of Seven Arcs to force him out but that's still not exactly a guarantee. So our next best bet is Nana Mizuki who screwed the lives of both you and me. Easily recognizable but she'll be tough to approach."

"In what way?" Sette had obviously given up trying to make sense out of what the blue haired woman was saying.

"The thing is she can assume multiple identities! Like being a vampire with duo personalities, a Magical Girl with a Super Silhouette form or an Elf Princess armed with a weapon that can act as a gun, sword AND a guitar! And if that's not hard enough, we have to deal with her army!"

"An army?"

Rai was glad that her sidekick was getting involved in the planning. "Yes, an army... and by army I mean Production Assistants... and by Production Assistants I mean underpaid interns...and by underpaid interns I mean her fans. We'll have to deal with her fans!"

Sette could practically feel the headache forming. "So we have to deal with an army of cooling apparatuses brought to life by a spell designed to make inanimate objects serve as foot soldiers?"

"… … sure, let's go with that!"

"I find your lack of sanity highly disturbing."

That deadpan comment was more than enough to get Rai to lose herself in endless giggles.

* * *

Material-S didn't waste any time asking what was wrong and moved her friend into her quarters before laying her gently on the bed. "Do you feel any better?"

No response. A quick glance showed that Material-D was already out like a light with her previously pained gasps replaced with more normal breathing. While she was glad that the Lord of Darkness wasn't in any discomfort, there was still the question of what could have caused it in the first place.

Seikou was certain that she didn't sense any sort of psychic or telepathic attack go off although it was possible that the attack could have evaded her senses. 'Just who would be able to pull off something like that?'

Her first suspect was Material-L's new sidekick, Sette. She had caused quite a bit of a stir ever since she came on board the ship. First was Yuuno-san's sudden change in behaviour. Then the strange book that Rai had picked up reacted to that woman. And now Material-D's strange condition. Was there a connection?

Perhaps Yuuno-san could shed some light on this. Since he reacted negatively upon finding out the woman's identity, surely he had some information to share. But Material-S couldn't go ask for information when he was not in the best state to provide answers. His well being needed to take priority so now the question is: How could she restore that well being to its normal, positive state?

Seikou stood outside the door to Yuuno's quarters, her hand raised to knock but she wasn't sure what she would say next if the Librarian answered. 'How should I go about this…?' She rather disliked this awkward feeling. It was like there was a growing gap between her heart and his.

"What should I do?" muttered the Nanoha replica to herself softly.

**"I have a suggestion, my Mistress."**

She blinked in surprise at the small blue gem. "Hm? What is it, Luciferion?"

**"That man… he said earlier that he was a Librarian. That means he appreciates works of art and culture."**

"Er… yes, I suppose he would like that sort of thing." He was definitely someone who would enjoy that sort of thing as understanding cultures past and present is something that would seem enjoyable to an academic like him.

**"Then why don't we paint for him? We haven't done so in over four years! Oh, how I miss the masterpiece that we created!"**

"… … paint?" The exact moment that her device mentioned that word, she felt a peculiar cold sensation throughout her entire body while her mind drifted back to the year long separation from the others. 'We did something like that once… at that time…'

_**"Wide Area Search Complete. Requested magical signatures have not been detected."** _

_"Another miss then," muttered the nineteen year old Starlight Destroyer in a cool tone before summoning a small speck of light and letting it sink into the ground. "The tracer is set in case they come across this planet. Luciferion, compute the next set of coordinates to the next habitable planet in this system." _

_**"Mistress, we've been through this every day for the past seven months. You need a little change in routine."** _

_"Like what? I don't have the time to spare for any foolishness." All of her waking hours had to be devoted to moving between worlds, casting her search spells and draining the Linker Cores of anyone she could find to replenish all the magic energy she was spending. _

_**"It's not foolishness… it's ART!"** exclaimed Luciferion in an excited tone. **"There is always a hidden truth to be found within each new painting one creates! Isn't that something that you have desired? To burn away the lies and expose the naked truth for all to see? Let's make a painting, Mistress! Otherwise, I won't be very nice to you the next time you ask for something."** _

_Material-S sighed in irritation before allowing herself to get caught up in whatever has captured her device's interest. "If you insist so badly on creating a painting, then I suppose I have no choice but to go along with this nonsense. Where do we start?" _

_**"Pick a corpse, any corpse. It shall serve as our canvas… their blood as our paint…"** _

_She looked around the former populated area and settled on the dead body of a young girl with purple curly hair. "Will this do?" _

_**"A good choice. Now let us begin…"**_

'I carved… and I cut… and I smeared that liquid all over her body… and then…'

_**"For the final touch, transmute her facial muscles so you can mould it like clay."** _

_It only took one tap on that girl's face with the staff for the preparations to be complete. The face looked a lot softer compared to its previous state. "What am I to be doing here?" _

_**"What do you think were the final thoughts that ran through this person's head prior to death? Imagine those emotions. Then sculpt to bring that final emotional state of being out in the open."** _

_Seikou gave off one more irritated sigh before getting to work. "If I recall, she was one of the loudest screamers that I have encountered while on this planet…" _

_A light hum of approval came from the staff in her hands. **"Spread the jaw and make sure you widen those eyelids. Yes… YES! That's the ticket! That eternal expression of fear and helplessness that will be preserved for all of eternity!"** A beat before the voice of Luciferion calmed down. **"Marvellous work, Mistress."**_

**"Yes, that was a beautiful painting. We need to do another one soon…"**

…

…

…

…

…

**"What do you think, Mistress?"**

…

…

…

…

…

…

*THUMP*

**"Oh, my… this can't be good."**


	17. Dreams, Prayers, & Sardine Bits

'I can't just hide here forever…' Yuuno sighed as he rolled out of the bed. He wasn't feeling too energetic right now since thanks to Rai, he could technically be charged with being an accessory to a criminal breakout operation. And knowing his luck, he'd probably even get hit with accessory to assault or murder charges depending on what Material-L did to the security forces.

This was probably the worst possible scenario. By the time he got back, word of this incident will have already reached the Bureau. Not only would his reputation plummet like a rock, he'd probably lose his job. His savings would likely be drained to nothing thanks to hiring defense lawyers. And worst of all, Nanoha and his other friends would probably want nothing to do with him ever again!

'Okay, I'm probably just overreacting here…' He pinched his nose once in an attempt to calm down. 'Calm… I am calm. I still have time to figure this out. It's not like I have anything else to worry about at the-'

*THUMP*

'What was that?' The Librarian paused when he heard the sound of something hitting the deck just outside his quarters before getting up to open the door. The moment he stepped out, his ears picked up the sound of strained feminine breathing. One glance down led his eyes to the collapsed Material-S. "Seikou?"

As he knelt down to lift her upper body up a little, he was shocked to feel how cold her skin felt. "Just what happened here?" asked Yuuno out loud.

**"Looks like a case of hypothermia,"** commented the blue gem form of Luciferion that rested on Seikou's chest.

"But the symptoms aren't matching up. Is her body temperature normal?"

**"It is just above 35 degrees Celsius."**

A frown came to the young man's face. "Then what could it be?"

His thinking process was interrupted by the voice of Material-L. "Hey, I heard something go bump in the night and… Seikou-chan!" In an instant, she was by Yuuno's side and yelped slightly when her hand touched the cold skin of the Nanoha replica. "Whaa! Cold!"

"Rai, did you happen to change the environmental controls when nobody was looking?"

"Eh? Uh…"

Right, she wasn't exactly the brightest crayon around so he would have to word it a different way. "Did you move the green thingamabob towards the blue line?"

Rai shook her head wildly. "No, no I didn't!"

"Okay then…" He shifted Seikou's body slightly so he could carry her bridal style back into his quarters where he could try and treat her condition.

"Um, Yuu-nii? About earlier…" It was a strange sight to see Material-L fidgeting. Normally, she's out of control and out of her mind but right now, she's acting rather soft spoken and reserved. But he couldn't let himself get too distracted.

"I'm going to take care of Seikou first. After that, if you still want to talk, then I'll come to see you later when I'm ready. I promise." He still needed time to wrap his head around how to handle Rai thanks to this latest turn of events. Once he got that straightened, then he can have that one on one chat with her.

That reassurance brought a small happy smile to her face since at least, he looked like he was doing better than the last time she saw him. "Okay!"

* * *

An endless void…

_Where am I?_

A scream that barely scratched the surface of the painful feeling of immense loss. Material-D instinctively recognized the scream as her own, even though she didn't exactly fully remember what was taken from her.

Was it her parents? Her mobility?

_That's not it._

Then what was it? What other family did she have? She had no other blood relatives that she could recall. The only people that she knew who might have qualified as family in the spiritual sense before she had met Material-S and Material-L were…

_Beloved guardian knights…_

Where did that thought come from? That couldn't be right. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing she valued highly enough to justify letting out a scream that contained that much grief. If her Knights were to die in her name, then they would do so with grace, meaning and dignity. To serve a powerful and competent Master should be their greatest pride and joy. So why…?

_Enough of this… let me out of here!_

The void shattered in response to her thoughts and she found herself standing on top of a roof in a city during the night. Up above, she could see two little girls floating just ahead of her. One had brown hair and was in a barrier jacket that looked like a silly white school uniform and the other girl, who was blonde, was wearing something that only someone into bondage would be caught wearing.

"So you two are the ones responsible for this?" is what Yami wanted to say. But she found that she wasn't exactly in control of anything here. She couldn't command herself to move as she wished. It was when she felt the sensations of the body itself that she quickly came to the conclusion that she wasn't inhabiting her true body.

For starters, this body had rather lengthy hair on her head. She guessed that the strands fell past the waist, which probably would make it more difficult to deal with in the mornings. Also, this body was quite tall. In fact, Material-D guessed that this vessel was a good half foot taller than her.

And the one thing that confirmed that this wasn't her body? This woman's breasts were bigger than her own…

_... ... GAH!_

Had Material-D been able to do so, she would have slammed her head against the wall multiple times in order to get that last perverted thought out of her brain.

* * *

Sein had been looking forward to enjoying the temporary new change in routine. After getting settled into the guest suite that had been set up for her and her fellow Church Knights, they would be able to put their energy towards a more meaningful task. Sure, she didn't mind spreading the faith about the Kaiser but she needed something else. The best part of all was being able to sleep in past the usual wake up call. No more annoying alarm bell from Sister Schach! Well, at least for a while…

Of course, Otto or Deed would have none of that. "Wake up, Sein."

"Unnggghhh…"

"Sein, we have a busy day ahead and much to do so get out of the bed," said Deed in a polite but firm tone. She was already dressed for the day in her standard Church attire along with her masculine looking twin.

"Come on, lemme sleep in for a while!" whined the elder sister before she tried burying herself under the pillow. "I'll probably never have another chance to be able to sleep past six forty-five for ages!"

"You do recall that Sister Carim and Sister Schach will be checking on us regularly to ensure that we are diligent in our duties. If they find you slacking off…"

"Ugh, right…" Eventually Sein got out of her comfortable bed but not without a few grunts of protest. It took her a while to find her short sleeved nun's habit and change into it. After straightening herself out, it was time to join her two fellow sisters in a brief morning prayer before breakfast.

They all stood together in front of their religious symbol, a simple marble monument of the Sankt Kaiser's Crest, and lowered themselves to the ground, bending one knee to the floor before beginning their prayer.

"In the name of the Kaiser, we destroy all that which is evil. So that which is good may flourish.

In the name of the Kaiser, we thrust into hell: Satan and all the evil spirits, who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

O Kaiser, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

Allow us to be your warriors and servants. Strengthen us to champion your Will through our everyday lives.

_Denn Dein ist das Reich und die Kraft und die Herrlichkeit in Ewigkeit._ Amen."

With their morning ritual complete, they all headed out to get something to eat at the cafeteria. It was fairly crowded with morning crews picking up coffee and breakfast for co-workers so there was a bit of a line up. "Excuse us but is this the back of the line?" asked Otto to the uniformed man and woman just ahead of them.

"That's correct…" As soon as the man noticed the three of them, he trailed off a bit. "Oh, it's you three. The Saint Church Liaisons, right?"

Sein nodded. "Yes and you are?"

"Vice Granscenic, helicopter pilot and sniper for Special Duty Section Six," replied the man before pointing to the young lady next to him. "And this is my friend and colleague, Alto Krauetta who runs communications for the division."

"Nice to meet you," said Alto in a polite tone.

"Hmmmm… I think I've heard about you somewhere before, Mr. Vice." Deed put her index finger and tapped it against her cheek while she tried to remember where she had seen him.

Otto perked up in surprise upon hearing Deed recognizing that man. "You probably saw him in the crowd when Hayate-san introduced us."

"No, it was before that. I can't quite put my finger on it…" Then it dawned on the younger woman as soon as she remembered how he introduced himself. "Could it be that five years ago, you were the one who… fired that shot?"

"Er… yeah, how did you know…?" asked Vice, who started sweating a little.

"I believe it was Nove who found out about it and spoke about it with her new friend Teana. I happened to overhear the conversation," replied Deed simply.

"Oh… uh, well… I'm sorry for what I had to do back there. Nothing personal." He mentally grimaced at that last part. 'Yeah… real smooth back there…'

The young Church Knight nodded. "I understand completely. After all, snipers are strongly dedicated to professional standards which state that they should be polite, efficient and always have a plan to kill anyone they meet."

Cue awkward silence among the group before Sein laughed nervously. "So how about that Materials case?"

Of course, Deed didn't notice the attempt to switch topics and continued with her questioning. "Mr. Vice, if I may ask you something?"

"Er, yes?"

"How much do you enjoy being a sniper? I understand that it's challenging work and that you are not confined inside an office at a desk doing paperwork. If anything, the demand for your services should remain constantly high since as long as there's two people left on this world… and on other worlds, someone is going to want someone dead."

"I… uh…" Okay, situation now officially more awkward.

"Do your parents approve of it? If you would like, I can pay them a visit to ensure that they understand the difference between a crazed gunman and an assassin."

"Deed, what are you doing?" asked Otto, who finally snapped out of her stupor.

"Making small talk in order to warm up the atmosphere as Sister Schach suggested," replied the other Number. "Is there something wrong?"

"Well… you could say that…"

* * *

Verossa Acous wasn't accustomed to getting up early in the morning. He set his own schedule and chose when to come into work or if he would skip work for the day. As long as he got worthwhile results on his investigations, his superiors never had any complaints. So it was surprising for him to be waiting in the cafeteria at this early hour with a coffee in hand and another cup sitting by for the person he was supposed to meet.

'Geez, where is that guy anyway?' Just as he took another sip of his coffee, he saw a paper airplane land quietly in front of him. The writing on the folds instructed him to open it up and underneath was a perfectly illustrated map of where his contact was waiting along with a message.

_"I am currently holding at this position. P.S. This message will self destruct in-"_

'Is that guy obsessed with writing that self-destruct message every time?' The investigator crumpled up the paper before looking around the area. He managed to trace the source of the plane to another table not as out in the open. With a small disgruntled sigh, he moved to the other table quietly with the drinks. "Did you have to call me for a meeting this early? It better be important, Skyhawk."

Agent Skyhawk was one of the more efficient officers of the Bureau's intelligence division although he was rather eccentric thanks to years of service in other secret service agencies. He looked like a plain sort of man with brown hair and a conspicuous looking white trench coat over his uniform. "Don't worry; this piece of info is pretty hot and relevant to your latest investigation."

"Then let's hear it."

Skyhawk looked around him to make sure that nobody was listening before leaning in to whisper. "The jam is moldy in the kitchen and the rolling rabbit gathers no moss."

"Huh?"

"The monkeys are restless and my dog has fleas."

This was going to be one of those times where Verossa wished for one of two things: Either Skyhawk becomes a magic user so he could just tell him what he wanted over telepathy or someone gave Verossa a crash course in 'Spy Speak'. "What are you talking about?"

"If you can't stand the heat, go to the dentist and get it fixed."

"Good grief, man… SPEAK NORMALLY!" Normally Verossa was a calm person but dealing with the other agent on a regular basis when he did his 'Spy Speak' often drained his patience quite quickly.

"I can't! Who knows if there's an enemy spy among us?" said Skyhawk as he carefully kept an eye on the people surrounding their table in the cafeteria. "We need a better spy check system around here to dispel transformation magic. I'm thinking fire would be good to flush them out so maybe a squad of professional spy checkers with flamethrowers should do the trick."

"But we're in a heavily guarded military base. It's not likely-"

"That won't stop them," hissed the agent in as quiet a tone as possible. "You don't know enemy spies like I do. They'll infiltrate any base, kill any personnel, disguise themselves to obtain top secret enemy information and worst of all… seduce our mothers to the point where they become presidents of their fan club!"

Verossa rolled his eyes. "Look, I know a few people up in the higher ranks so I'll speak to them about implementing that 'spy checker' squad you wanted. Now can you tell me why you summoned me so urgently?"

Satisfied that at least someone would look into his concerns, Skyhawk began to speak. "Last night, a contact of mine told me that subspace communications went offline at one of them off world prisons. At the same time, someone broke in and caused a helluva mess there."

"Which prison was it? How bad is the situation?"

"I believe it was 'Lubsoulim' Orbit Prison's 6th branch on Uninhabited World 17. The latest casualty count is eight dead with twenty three heavily wounded. The internal structure is apparently quite a mess with several walls having been blasted through. And surveillance footage did manage to get a good picture of that intruder…"

Verossa took a moment to absorb the information in. "This has been reported to the main branch, right?"

Skyhawk took a sip of his drink. "My partner's already reporting it. Of course, I betcha those admirals wouldn't appreciate hearing such bad news before they had their morning coffee. The odd thing is that eyewitness accounts are reporting that the only thing that the intruder wanted was food… and a sidekick."

"Say what?"

"Yeah, she's a weird one alright. Looking exactly like that Fate chick you got running around in your base."

'So this is something related to the Materials,' thought Verossa to himself. "You mentioned a sidekick earlier? What did you mean by that? And who did she take?"

"Hey, that's their words, not mine. As for the prisoner that she swiped, it was that tall pink haired Combat Cyborg with a huge rack and-"

*CRASH*

Their conversation was interrupted by someone dropping a breakfast tray nearby, spilling the contents on the white tiles. And there were only three words that the shocked Sein could say in response to her sharp hearing picking up the description of one of her incarcerated sisters. "Sette… is out…?"

* * *

Material-D couldn't tell which one of these insects she disliked more.

The one clad in black with the blonde hair reminded her of a flea. Something that would bounce around on a dog's flesh, suck blood for nutrients and be damn hard to catch. No matter how many times this body tried to get a hold of her, the other girl was a step ahead of her. Of course, it didn't look like she placed a lot of emphasis on defensive armour so one good hit would take her out.

As for the one in white, she couldn't tell what type of bug she would be. Perhaps a cockroach? She certainly was annoying enough to qualify for one, complete with that ugly attempt to plead that the destruction end.

_"Hayate-chan and the Book of Darkness… please stop this! We aren't the ones-!"_

Oh, what Yami would give to be able to tear off that girl's head from her body. For starters, she addressed her by that Hayate name. To be addressed in such a common manner was irritating. In addition, they seemed to have committed some offense and were trying to beg for their own lives.

_"- the rest… we…!"_

The other voice that echoed throughout her senses was different. It must belong to the blonde. It was almost as annoying as the first one that tried to communicate to her.

But there was something about those two that she couldn't quite put a finger on. For some reason, the one in white reminded her of the Starlight Destroyer while the blonde seemed to be just like the Lightning Assailant, except sane. Very sane. It was rather weird hearing her voice come out so mature.

Then she heard a voice… a most wonderful voice that promised the end of everything. A voice that carried power and loyalty to her proper Mistress. No matter how hard Yami tried, she couldn't put a face or a name to that voice.

"My mistress wishes that this world…"

_… who is she? There's something about her…_

"… the world that took away her-"

_A name… there's a name on the tip of my tongue…! What is it?_

"… be turned into nothing more than a nightmare. I am simply granting that wish."

_Then grant my wish! TELL ME YOUR NAME!_

And in the waking world, where nobody could hear her, a small sound escaped from the lips of the sleeping Lord of Darkness.

"Re…in…force…"

* * *

"Sette's out… and she is going to kill us! Better yet, she'll chop us all into sardine bits and-"

"Sein, get a grip! Why are you thinking that she would do such a thing?" asked Otto after having finally managed to talk a little sense into Deed on the fact that such questions are inappropriate and wouldn't even apply anyway since Vice is a military officer and not a freelance assassin. The earlier mess that Sein had caused from the dropping of her breakfast tray had been cleaned up and the sisters were all taking their morning meals in a more secluded area where they could talk amongst themselves.

"It's what I would do if I ever got ditched! Think about it! As far as I know, the three of us never did make time to check on how she's doing and stuff in prison since we were so busy with our training! I don't think that Cinque-nee and the others who joined the Nakajima family checked up on her either since they get caught up in work too! That means that Sette would feel like-"

"There is an error in your assumption, Sein. Sette does not have the ability to feel," replied Deed. "She was created to be a perfect weapon of war according to what Tre-neesama had said."

"Okay, so concepts like loneliness won't bother her but you know how she's a strict stickler to the rules and to her perceived superiors. She'll see that we deserted our posts and joined the enemy. Actions like treason only have one punishment." And the eldest of the trio made a cutting motion across her neck with her index finger, complete with sound effects.

Otto merely sighed. "You're thinking too much about this. All of us know that Sette is attempting to undergo a rehab program. Granted, it's taking longer and it's quite different but I think by now, she should have made some progress breaking out of that 'Perfect Soldier' mindset."

The blue haired female started relaxing a bit. "I guess you're right about that."

"But if what that agent mentioned earlier is correct, then it is highly likely that this Material will try to use Sette against us," commented Deed.

Her twin groaned underneath her breath. 'Did she really have to mention that? Now Sein's going to lose it again in three… two… one…'

"So I was right earlier!" wailed Sein. "The Material girl's probably gonna mess up Sette's head even further so that she'll enjoy punishing us and chopping us into sardine bits!"

"Sein, she's not…!" At this point, Otto just knew it was going to be a long day.


	18. Wiggle That Big Toe

Material-S groaned once as she regained consciousness and realized that she was lying on a bed. "W-where am I?"

"Seikou-chan! Are you alright?" Yuuno's concerned face hovered quite close to her own, causing her cheeks to turn slightly red.

"What happened? I was standing outside your quarters earlier and…" She recalled talking to her device for a little bit while pondering how to help him deal with whatever that may be bothering him.

He stepped back to give her some space. "I was hoping you could tell me. I heard you faint earlier and brought you into my room to recover. When I felt your skin, it was unbelievably cold! Just what could have caused it?"

"I don't know…" Seikou paused for a moment. "How long was I out for?"

Yuuno quickly checked the digital clock that was near the bed. "A good 10 hours. In case you were wondering, I haven't seen or heard anybody out and about."

"They are probably still resting. We had been up for quite some time."

"That's true." The thought of Rai's activities from the previous night reminded him that he still had to figure out what to do with her and how to go about dealing with the fallout that would certainly come from springing out the Combat Cyborg currently on the ship.

"What's wrong?" asked the red clad woman from the bed.

"Hm? Oh… it's nothing."

"Don't lie to me please. I saw it for a moment. That troubled look in your eyes. What is bothering you, Yuuno-san? Whatever that weighs heavily on you… if possible, I would like to ease that burden."

He looked startled for a moment before letting out a small smile. "I appreciate the gesture but this is something you can't help me with."

"Why not?"

"It's complicated," countered the Librarian.

"Then make it uncomplicated." Material-S wasn't about to give up so easily on this.

"Seikou, you and the others… you ladies have a long road ahead of you to find your place in civilization. You should be focusing on that. I can handle my own problems."

"That's not fair!" exclaimed the Nanoha replica in a rather surprising emotional outburst. "All this time, you've always put our needs ahead of your own while your own troubles eat away at you inside!"

"It's okay, really!"

"No, it's not okay! I want to repay you for your kindness, Yuuno-san! If you won't let me help you, then… then…!" She frantically tried to think up of something before settling for the first thing that popped in her mind. "Then I'll pin you to the ground and not let you up until you tell me what's troubling you!"

Cue awkward silence as Seikou immediately felt embarrassed that she came up with something so silly and childish. As for Yuuno, he had a slightly different reaction, complete with a slight twitching of the eyebrow. '… pin me to the ground? As in a wrestling type pin…?'

This reminded him of a strange dream (more like a nightmare) he had some time ago about him being twisted into a pretzel several times thanks to different submission holds that were done to him by a red bikini clad Nanoha. He didn't know what could have caused that dream but he would never forget what happened to his dream self in there…

"_Lyrical Magical Armlock!" _

_*SNAP* "ARGH!" _

"_Lyrical Magical Cross Legged Lock!" _

_*CRACKLE* "IthurtsithurtsITHURTS!" _

"_Lyrical Magical Siberian Suplex!" _

"_S-Siberian?" _

"_For Real Soviet Damage, Yuuno-kun! Teehee!" _

"_Don't 'teehee' me, Nano-" *POP* "UNCLE! UNCCCLEE!"_

He shook off the thought. 'No way… she wouldn't do such a…' His green eyes widened in surprise as Seikou had gotten up from the bed and slowly began to approach him. "W-wait… what are you…? You're kidding, right?"

The Starlight Destroyer merely held up her hands and started flexing them as if ready to grapple. She was hoping not to go through with this embarrassing action any further but until he was willing to talk, then she would have to put up with this. Now, she recalled seeing those weird people on that Muscle Planet do something like announcing the names of their deadly attacks before pouncing on their opponent…

"Um… Magical Material…"

"OKAY, I'LL TALK, I'LL TALK!"

"You will? That's… good." She was glad he didn't call her bluff since she wasn't sure if she could have went through with those childish motions in the event that Yuuno remained stubborn. Now that he's willing to talk, she should be able to help him although at the moment, the whole atmosphere felt a bit awkward for the both of them.

*GROWL*

And her growling stomach didn't really help matters. But at least now Yuuno was smiling, even if it came at her dignity's expense. "How about we talk about this over some supper?"

"Er… yes that would be appropriate."

* * *

It had been a busy day for Fate T. Harlaown. Along with her usual workload that came with her position, she also had been keeping her eye on updates to the Materials case. The latest update had been news of an unexpected visit to one of the orbital prisons by one of the Materials. Surveillance footage showed that it was her doppelganger that had broken in and taken an entire refrigerator along with one of the prisoners, one of Jail's Combat Cyborgs.

This wasn't exactly comforting news. If anything, this meant possibly having one more opponent to deal with, assuming that the Materials knew how to reprogram her. She was hoping that wouldn't be the case since according to her patient profile, Sette had been making good progress in her rehab program.

Thinking about her doppelganger, eyewitness accounts had painted her replica's personality as a combination of a cheerful child and a psychopathic killer. This somewhat fit her observations when the Materials had broadcasted themselves over the planet earlier in the month. Along with what she managed to find out from her brother, Fate came to the theory that her clone had a very unstable mindset, most likely fuelled by the Nanoha and Hayate replicas.

All this left her with more questions. And she wasn't the only one who wanted answers.

Fate could only imagine how this is gnawing away at Nanoha inside. And she shared that frustration too as well. Fifteen years ago, when she had tried to seal several Jewel Seeds at once, Nanoha and Yuuno didn't hesitate to go against Bureau orders to lend her help. Now Yuuno's in a dangerous position with three replicas that originated from the Book of Darkness and Nanoha can't even go out to save him. Of course, the difference is the fact that they have no idea where Yuuno even is at this point compared to how the Asura easily tracked her down on Earth when she triggered the Jewel Seeds to react simultaneously.

At least Nanoha was taking it better these days compared to when she was denied her request to join the search parties. Her normal daily routine was coming back together with today being Fate's turn to pick up some groceries while she did some house cleaning. Since she wanted to get in and out quietly and quickly, she used a light transformation spell to disguise her features before entering the market.

The grocery list wasn't too extensive so it didn't take her long to head towards the check out counter and subsequently hear the commotion that was happening at one of the registers.

"You can't do this, dammit! My coupons are good! Take them!"

A quick glance showed an irate male customer yelling at the female cashier. He didn't care about the ruckus that he was making or the crowd that was starting to gather around him.

"Sir, these coupons are expired. I'm not allowed-"

"If you don't take it, you're gonna be expired! Take my coupons or I'll sue! I'm a lawyer with the Bureau! I'll sue you in court!"

Fate really wasn't in the mood for this. "Excuse me?"

"What do ya want?" snapped the other man.

"Are you a prosecutor or defense attorney?" asked the young woman calmly.

"Huh?"

"Which law school did you attend? Can you tell me which division you work for and which jurisdiction it covers?"

"W-what?" All he could do at this point was stammer and stare, especially after she deactivated the transformation spell.

"Sir, impersonating an agent of the Bureau is a serious offense. Furthermore, there are enough witnesses and evidence to hold you in court for harassment, threatening, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace. I'm an Enforcer with the Bureau. I have contacts in every legal division. My recommendation? You leave, before I place a call and make this official." Applause and cheers came from the other customers while the other man merely ran out of the store as fast as his legs could take him, leaving behind his items on the counter. "Oh my, he left his groceries behind."

"You want some free stuff?" asked the grinning cashier.

"No, I shouldn't and…" The crowd quickly closed in on Fate, asking for a handshake, autographs and the usual requests that one makes when meeting a celebrity.

'So much for trying to keep a low profile...'

* * *

While Material-S went off to prepare something to eat for the both of them from Rai's newly acquired fridge, Yuuno quietly checked in on the others. The first room he checked was Material-D's and she looked like she was still sleeping. It was a bit unusual for her to be sleeping such long hours but then again, she had been awake for quite some time.

The next visit would be to Material-L's quarters. Seikou had informed him earlier that the Combat Cyborg was currently unable to move her body and was staying in Rai's room as well due to her being a compatible master for the blue book that the Fate replica found earlier. He was uncertain what to expect from that latest turn of events. So he braced himself before he entered the room…

"Wiggle your big toe."

He paused for a moment when he heard Sette say that softly. "Say what?" Another peek showed him that Rai was using the other woman's stomach as a makeshift pillow and was snoring away. And speaking of the Combat Cyborg, her footwear had been placed to the side which left her feet bare.

"Wiggle your big toe," repeated Sette to herself before her one visible eye directed itself towards Yuuno. "Is there something I can help you with, Yuuno?"

He stepped into the room, taking care to keep his guard up. "Um… just what are you doing?"

"I am beginning to regain motor functions. Material-L had suggested working with the toes first before gradually trying to move any other limbs and used that phrase to get me to focus."

"Any luck?"

There was a pause before she responded. "I have been able to move the big toe on my left foot by two millimetres."

He chuckled to himself a little. "I guess that means the hard part's over."

"Affirmative."

"So how's things…?" Ugh, why did he have to ask something so stupid? Thankfully, she didn't point it out and answered him normally.

"If you are inquiring about the activation of the Azure Grimoire, then it is going well although I am puzzled at the absurd amount of time it is taking to set itself up. Or are you inquiring if I will resume my old mission to carry out the Doctor's goals?"

"Yes, that thought did cross my mind. That and what you and Rai have been up to while I was tending to Seikou." At least she seemed calm, which was good. If she was more like Wendi, well… He wasn't sure what he could do if that was the case.

"Ah. I am no longer associated with the Doctor, nor would I care to carry out any missions of his. As for Material-L, she talked about…" Her mind briefly went back to some of the unusual nonsensical ramblings of the Fate replica.

"_So I hear this crazy thing that me, Seikou-chan and Yami-chan are gonna return in the next game and I was like 'COOL'! Cuz maybe this time, instead of being restricted to one player vs CPU mode and being all SNK Boss like, we can be nerfed enough to be playable, God Tier characters for PvP matches! I just hope those Original Generation characters are interesting enough too because it would suck if we had to cream the same nine canon characters again! Or maybe they'll toss in new canon characters? Yeah, that would be cool too! Maybe I'll actually get to kick that pale imitation of myself around this time! Maybe they'll get me a better voice actress too! Sure, Nana's good at singing, but she sounds way too old to voice young girls."_

"… many, many things until she finally decided to take a nap."

"I… see." Honestly, he wasn't certain just how truthful she was being but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. After all, he regularly worked with some of the other Numbers and they were all good hearted young women. Even if Wendi was loud and Nove could be irritable, he found them to be good people, Cinque and Dieci were pleasant when they stopped by the library. Sadly, however, he had yet to really get to know any of Sette's sisters outside of when they needed information.

Still… As he looked at her, he got the impression that if her sisters could become good people, then why couldn't she? Heck, barring certain… Incidents with them, the Materials weren't that bad of people.

At least he thought so.

But, why did his head hurt if he thought about it for too long?

"I wonder if I can help her. Like how I was helped during my rehabilitation."

He blinked in surprise when he heard such a thing come out of Sette's mouth. "You want to help her? Why?"

"I too asked that question to my doctor upon one of our early interviews after my surgery. He replied… 'Do I need a reason to help someone?' It was the first time I heard something like that. And for a moment, I felt oddly warm." Her one visible eye glanced at the sleeping blue haired young woman. "The gestures of kindness that were extended to me that gradually changed me over the years… I want to do the same for her. And maybe she can change for the better as well."

"That's… easier said than done." There was no doubt that Rai certainly had an 'interesting' mind. "You could be looking at a lifetime of work in order to have her settle down and live a normal life."

"That's fine by me," replied Sette softly. "If that is the condition, then I accept this life mission."

"Has Rai really become someone of value to you that quickly?"

"I do not think that is the case. It may simply be a matter of paying it forward…" She paused for a moment. "I believe that is how the expression is used."

"The concept of asking that a good turn be repaid by having it done to others instead?"

"Yes. Once, I had asked what would be an appropriate way to thank my caretakers for the work they had done for my case and they simply asked that I pay it forward. This would be a good opportunity to carry out their wishes."

"If that's what you sincerely plan to do, then maybe…" Already, thoughts were flying through his head on how this could be used as part of their defending arguments.

"Yuuno-san, dinner is ready," called out the voice of Material-S.

"I'll have to give this some thought. In the meantime, I better leave you alone to concentrate on getting your other piggies wiggling," said the Librarian.

"I would like to ask for a quick favour. Can you please move Material-L to another bed? She's drooling on my torso."

"Uh… sure." Just as he approached the Fate replica, he heard a demented giggle escape her lips.

"Yes, Barbie… give it to that G I Joe dude up the butthole... even if it's very, very, wrong, it's very, very funny…" Weary red eyes slightly opened as Material-L emerged from her slumber. "Uhm... I wasn't dreaming anything too embarrassing, wasn't I?"

Both Yuuno and Sette stared at her before giving the same deadpan reply in unison. "Not by your standards."

"Hehehehehe…"


	19. Like Talking to a Wall

When Yuuno had settled down to have dinner with Seikou that evening, he felt rather optimistic. He had managed to clear his worries about the latest addition to their group and there was someone who was willing to listen to his troubles and offer a different perspective on how to approach them.

Forty hours later, he was back in the familiar position of recalibrating the compensation variable after yet ANOTHER shift in their flight plan and being forced to take a quick stop at another unidentified world. And this time, he was having trouble concentrating due to rather heavy thoughts flying around in his head.

For starters, the discussion back at the dinner table somehow turned into a confession. Not one of those super crazy love confessions on soap operas. It was a confession of murder.

That evening, Material-S told him the truth about how she had killed that religious group. She explained as much as she could, such as what drove her to kill them. Part of it was driven due to survival instinct to absorb extra energy while she could. The other part of it came from when that group essentially condemned Seikou's current choices. They indirectly implied that the Librarian had no place in her life.

She admitted that was the deciding factor that triggered her urge to kill them. And that particular reason really bothered him and caused him to do some heavy thinking during the trip before this latest detour.

Over the time that he had known her, he had observed that Seikou's personality could shift gears from mirroring Nanoha to something else entirely. With Nanoha, she was like the sun on a bright day and she would have tried to understand that group of people that Seikou had met. In the scenario that she found their views distasteful, she probably would have lectured them on how intolerance of different viewpoints is a bad thing.

Seikou, on the other hand, was more like the full moon with dark clouds in the sky, allowing light, but darkening the world without notice. She probably did try to understand them to a point. It was when they spoke ill of her choices and indirectly insulted her friends that she decided to permanently shut them up. And that was the difference between her and Nanoha. Unlike his childhood friend, Material-S had no problems on using lethal force to those who would directly or indirectly insult her friends. That honestly scared him quite a bit, just as badly as Material-L's inner beast.

Yuuno gently clapped his hands against his cheeks twice in order to regain concentration. He needed to finish this work by the time the others returned from scouring this world for supplies. This world seemed to be the home of several manufacturing plants, which was odd because he was certain that the Bureau would have located and identified this world if there was this much manufacturing activity. Perhaps on legal documents, this world passed for something else. He could easily see that with all the other work and Lost Logia cases that came up on a regular basis, investigating the validity of this world's legal papers would go low on the priority list.

He rechecked his formulas and sure enough, they were all properly computed and worked out. There was only one variable he could think of that could influence the change in course. And that was the assumed magical point values of the Materials. Based on his work, it appears that their magical point values were not quite equal to the Aces he knew back home.

'And that only means two things: either the three of them are lower on the magic rank scale or they're far more powerful than originally assumed.' So not only did he have to determine whether he should be using a higher or a lower value, he also had to estimate the actual magical point values that would propel him closer to home.

Joy.

* * *

"I checked it over several times, Aru. They just don't have that brand of dipping sauce in their truck." Honestly, he was really getting tired of this. That girl was always being picky when it came to certain delicacies.

"_Vey-nii… listen to me carefully. You said it yourself that there was at least two skids of frozen pizza in that manufacturer's truck. How can we eat that much frozen pizza without different types of dipping sauce to go with the crust?"_

Veyron fought the urge to sigh. "It's not going to be pizza night every night. There are also pasta dishes, rice dishes and all sorts of frozen dinners. What did you expect from a frozen food manufacturer?"

The redheaded girl on the screen merely grumbled. _"Ugh, we need to start looking for fresh food to raid! Living off frozen food for extended periods isn't exactly healthy eating, ya know."_

"Yeah, I hear ya." He could appreciate a good home cooked meal as much as the next person did.

"_I mean look at these!"_ She practically forced the view to zoom in on her healthy bosom. _"These boobs only developed from regular exercise, a healthy diet and of course, a tub of Musashino Full-Cream Milk a day!"_

"… … did I really have to know that?" His senses then picked up some movement close to the manufacturing plant and the truck that he had picked out to serve as this month's food supply for the family. 'Did I leave a survivor? Better remedy that.'

"_Vey-nii, what's wrong?"_

"Some unfinished business. Meet me at the rendez-vous point when you finish rounding up what cartridges you want to take with you."

This earned him a salute from the redhead. _"Aye aye!"_

As soon as the transmission ended, Veyron willed his weapon to come forth. "EC Divider Code 928..."

Once the gunblade appeared in his hands, he checked how much ammo he had left in it. 'Let's see… four? No, five shells. Should be plenty enough.'

He quickly made his way back towards the manufacturing plant that he had just visited only an hour earlier. The entire morning shift had already been killed off by him when he dropped by so the only source of noise that should be heard throughout the facility should be the humming of machinery and whoever else was still around.

So he calmly walked through the hallways, not really caring about the smell of blood or the stickiness of the floor. He was only focused on finding his prey and getting the jump on them. All he needed was a clue on their whereabouts.

A minute later, his sharp hearing provided him that clue that seemed to originate from one of the assembly lines up ahead. Someone was talking rather loudly and enthusiastically, which echoed throughout the building. The biker quietly pinpointed which line it was and spotted two females down below with hair that stood out easily among the grey coloured machinery.

"Come on, Sette-chan! Help me search for frozen chicken nuggets! Or fingers! Chicken fingers are always good!"

A sinister smile appeared on Veyron's features as he prepared himself to close in for the kill.

* * *

It had been a rather uneventful trip for Material-S and Material-D as they flew towards the next manufacturing plant on the list. There wasn't exactly a chart that detailed which goods were produced at each plant, even with a planetary scan taken by their ship so they had to take the time flying from region to region based on the rough map they were provided.

Material-L and Sette were covering the plants scattered across the Northern regions so that left the Southern regions for the Lord of Darkness and the Starlight Destroyer. So far, the factories they briefly checked in on did not produce anything of value as they produced mostly animal feed and agricultural products. There was only one more facility to investigate before they could head back to the ship.

Seikou had noted that Yami was being more quiet than usual. By now, the Nanoha replica's ears should have been full from disgruntled grumblings from her companion but ever since she had that nap to recover from the nasty headache earlier, the Hayate replica had been lost in thought and focused on something else rather than the here and now. Normally, Material-S wouldn't have minded but it was getting more difficult to keep bottling up those anxious feelings that came from her conversation with Yuuno at that dinner.

So just as the two of them landed close to one of the plant's entrances, she finally decided to break the silence and get it off her chest. "I finally told him the truth."

"Hm."

"I am not sure how well he took it. We haven't spoken since that particular conversation."

"Hm."

"It's understandable that he would need time to think upon this. However, I am… worried on how much his opinion of me has changed due to my revelation."

"Hm."

There was a moment of silence as the Starlight Destroyer noted the lack of response from her companion other than a grunt. "Yami? Are you listening?"

"Hm."

Yes, it was obvious that she wasn't paying attention. Otherwise the Hayate replica would have spouted out her usual catchphrase. Without wasting a moment, Seikou reached over to grab her companion's nose, causing Yami to cry out. "Kah…! Stop it!"

"Ah, so there is life within you, Lord of Darkness," said Material-S in her usual flat tone after releasing her friend.

"Ugh… what is it that you want?" growled Material-D.

"You have been rather quiet for the past day or so. As if your mind was on something else."

"That's the curse of a brilliant mind. To always be thinking of events in motion…" Yami noticed the unchanging stare from the Nanoha replica which was a certain indication that she wasn't buying it. After some thought, she decided that it wouldn't certainly do any harm to ask her servant about the subject. "Do you ever get the feeling that we're missing someone?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"The day before yesterday, I had a dream. No… I believe it was a vision of the past that somehow involved all of us… and a fourth one."

"I cannot say that I have any such recollection of a fourth person who travelled with us," said Seikou.

"No! She never had the chance to come with us!" hissed Yami. "She never managed to escape the world which tried to tie our souls down with gravity!"

Her tone and facial expressions all suggested that she was being deranged but this was going to be one of those times when Material-D wouldn't let go of whatever it was that she saw. Might as well let her get it out of her system. "So tell me about her. What is her name? What is she like?"

"I only have flashes of memory. Nothing concrete."

"Then it seems like that there is nothing you can do," said Seikou as she opened the plant entrance door.

"I won't accept that," growled the Lord of Darkness. "If there is one thing I know for a certain fact, it is that she has served me as my loyal servant in the past. And I intend to find her so that she can take her rightful place at my side when I build my kingdom."

"And what if she is no-" The Starlight Destroyer paused when her nose picked up a familiar scent. The scent of blood. Even though there were no bodies in sight, Seikou's instincts told her that every single living person that had been working in here was dead.

It didn't go unnoticed by her companion who merely opened up her fan to wave the odour away from her. "Oh my… looks like we have quite the mess over here, don't we?"

The two of them first strolled throughout the plant in order to find out what it produced. It turned out that this particular facility manufactured various device parts. As it fell within something of potential value, they managed to navigate their way to the storage bay where finished goods were kept however what greeted them was an empty chamber, with only a few scattered cartridge shells. 'So someone else is scouring for supplies too? They probably decided to eliminate any potential witnesses while they conducted their raid.' Seikou looked over to the Hayate replica. "How many were you able to get?"

"I have six cartridge shells and it seems these were made for a CVK792-R cartridge system. That means I can only supply one fresh load to Material-L unless we can find anything else within the vicinity." Yami paused for a moment. "You're out of cartridges, correct?"

"Correct."

"It's unlikely that there are any CVK792-A cartridges lying around. That means you're going to be stuck at a disadvantage until we can replenish your supply." The grey haired woman growled under her breath. "Maybe we can still catch up to those raiders. The amount of time that has passed since the slaughter has only been one or two hours at most."

"I'm pretty sure they're long gone by now." Just as those words left her mouth, the wall in front of them shuddered as something hit it from behind. As soon as the two pinpointed the proper exit, they bolted through to find the source of the noise.

It turned out to be a motorcycle that had been carrying a large carriage full of stolen device parts. And standing over the mess was a redheaded woman with tattoos over parts of her bared midriff arms and legs. Her wardrobe was rather limited with a torn brown vest, a top that covered only her breasts, army green shorts, black gloves and a pair of boots. She also had a pair of goggles that were strapped tightly to the top of her head. But what stood out the most was the blue wings tattoo on her right wrist.

The blue eyes of Material-S easily caught sight of that tattoo. "That mark…"

"She's just like those other ones?" muttered Yami to herself.

"ARGH! Wasn't this piece of crap carriage supposed to support over 2,500 pounds of cargo?" The redhead then noticed the other two women who were standing there. "This stinks! All I wanted to do was lug this stuff home, dip into a hot bath and then pig out over pizza! But nooooo… Vey-nii doesn't even have dipping sauce!"

"You there…" Material-D never got a chance to finish as she was cut off rather abruptly.

"Sorry, but after having this streak of bad luck, this Arnage's more in the mood to kill rather than talk!" She held out her hands and summoned a pair of mid-sized swords. "EC Divider Code 718!"

The two Materials didn't waste any time themselves. "Yersinia Kreuz, bestow upon me my staff and armour!"

"Luciferion, start up!"

* * *

At first glance, Veyron of Huckebein looks like the type of character who would be brash, destructive and loud. While this is true on most occasions, he does have the capability to be stealthy when the situation required it. After all, his Divider's long range capabilities were not very good. That meant he had to learn how to be able to close the gap efficiently to make the best use of his weapon.

He moved in quietly, descending one floor at a time while masking his presence. By his calculations, he figured he could be within striking distance to take them both out before they could react as soon as he reached the next assembly floor beneath him.

"You know, it's pretty quiet around here."

"What do you expect when everyone else around us is deceased?" replied a second female voice in a neutral tone that had just a hint of irritation.

"That's no good. In times like these, we need some good background music. Like 'Only a Plank Between One and Perdition'!" She started humming a tune under her breath. "And I don't want the boss to take the first turn…"

Veyron's senses went on alert as he saw her right arm flare and form yellow magical circles around the upper half just above her elbow. 'She's a mage?'

"… so I'm gonna get the drop on him!" The blue haired woman immediately turned in his direction and pointed her right finger, which was now charged with an attack spell, right at his position. "Light Pillar!"

In a split second, a Mid-Childan Magic Circle formed right in front of the finger before a powerful yellow beam flew towards Veyron, who jumped forward quickly to avoid the attack. Even though he had the healing factor and magic negation abilities that came from being infected with Eclipse, there was something… off enough about that mage to cause him to come to the split second decision to avoid the spell rather than blocking it.

'Shit… that was close.' The biker flipped in mid air before landing on his feet in front of the two women while the beam continued to incinerate everything in its path as it flew upwards. 'Heh… just my luck to encounter a pair of wandering mages.'

"Hey, what was that?" complained the blue haired woman. "That was supposed to be a one hit KO for 9,999 points of damage! You know that was a sure kill, Sette-chan!"

"That is doubtful, Material-L. His magical point values seem to suggest that an A-ranked spell would barely do any harm to him," replied the pink haired woman in that monotone of hers.

"Eh? But I thought that was…" She paused for a moment before giggling. "Ahahaha… my bad! It's only a proper instant kill when I'm all transformed and stuff!"

"Are you for real?" muttered Veyron under his breath until the one who called herself Material-L cleared her throat.

"Ahem… so we meet again, you Squall Wannabe!"

This caught the biker off guard. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"And I see that you upgraded your game sprite as well! But that's not enough to fool my eyes! By the way, where's that woman partner of yours? You know the one who looked like she jumped out of a Castlevania game?"

'… so she crossed paths with Curren and Karen, huh?' Veyron remembered them well even though those two hardly visited the base and would leave status updates perhaps once a year at best.

Curren, his 'twin' as Arnage put it even though they just really looked alike and had no real relationship to each other, was on the hunt for the ultimate 'jackpot' which apparently would be the key to unlocking the mystery behind the Silver Cross Bible and the Eclipse infection. His partner, Karen, wanted to see for herself the potential power behind the Zero Driver and the truth that lay within the Tome.

They were highly focused on their prize and tried to prevent others from picking up clues that could lead them to solving the puzzle before they did. But because of their one track mind, they were somewhat sloppy when it came to cleaning up witnesses. So Veyron wasn't too surprised seeing a survivor although he wondered just how many more are out there thanks to their negligence.

"Hello? Wakey wakey, Squall Wannabe!" shouted Material-L.

Okay, she was seriously getting on his nerves. Why hadn't he blasted her already? "Don't call me that!"

She merely grinned like a maniac. "If you're not Squall, then what are you? Maybe… you're a lion?"

"Shut up! How would you like it if I called you something silly like Levi the Slasher?" The biker paused for a moment before pressing his free palm into his face. He was sure that the longer he stuck around that Material-L, the more his IQ would drop.

"Levi the Slasher? Levi… the Slasher… dunno if I like that name. I'll have to give this some thought." The blue haired woman started to turn away, much to Veyron's annoyance.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" She starts a fight and calls him weird names and all of a sudden, she's turning her back on him?

"Ah, right… boss fight and all. Actually, in this case, this would probably be a sub-boss fight. Dunno if that Plank song would still be suitable for a downgraded battle."

For some reason, Veyron felt insulted by that. "You little bit-"

"You play with him first, Sette-chan! If you need help, just scream 'EEK! EEK!' like a little girl!" shouted the blue haired woman as she headed off to think about that new name.

There was a pause before the Huckebein broke the silence. "Cripes, how can you stand her?"

Sette said nothing as her eye patch started glowing, a sign of the Azure Grimoire's activation.

"… geez, it's like talking to a wall here."


	20. Missing: Yuuno's Marbles

'Okay, carry the z-variable into the formula and…' Yuuno paused for a moment as he noticed something off with his equations. A quick review allowed him to zoom in on his error. 'Wait a second… I forgot to account for the rate of distortion in the space-time fabric!'

He let out a heavy sigh as he erased a few formulas to start over from scratch. Ever since this trip got turned upside down by meeting those replicas, his absentmindedness has been growing little by little with the biggest example that he could think of was when he was briefly on Ruwella to drop off Isis.

It never crossed his mind to make a detour to the local Saint Church branch on that world and use their interdimensional communicator to make a call to Chrono or someone else back home to let them know he's fine and on his way back. Then again, years of working on site digs as a Bureau officer instead of a regular archaeologist probably softened him.

As Head of the Infinity Library, he had quite a lot of perks and resources at his disposal. While it did make certain tasks easier to handle, having that 'security' with him in a sense eroded some of the soft skills he had developed while working solo. A part of Yuuno felt that his old pre-Librarian self probably would have been able to handle this situation a lot more maturely than he was right now. That Yuuno probably would have been able to get a few more answers out of the Materials and put more effort into steering them away from their current way of life where bloodshed was a common sight for their eyes.

The thought caused him to snort to himself. 'How sad is this?' How much time had he spent on his own selfish desire to return home? He had clearly been in a position where he could have made a stronger impact on the behaviour of those replicas. If he had approached things correctly, there was no doubt in his mind that the people that had been slain by Material-S and Material-L would still be alive.

He shook his head and tried not to let such thoughts keep him from his work. What's done is done. If anything, he'd have to try and take a more active role in steering the Materials in the right direction after he put things back on track with the ship. His head was already formulating on how to approach the three of them.

Rai would normally be too much to handle by himself but luckily, he would be able to count on Sette's presence to act as a positive and calming influence on the Fate replica. She had proven to be fairly trustworthy when she had declared her intentions to help Material-L.

Yami was going to be a little trickier. Her mind was strongly focused on settling on a place to build her kingdom. He would need to look into characteristics of ancient Belkan rulers and see how they conducted themselves during their rule. With some luck, he could pick out the more benevolent ones and pass that information on to Material-D who would at least take emulating those traits into consideration.

Last but not least was Seikou who was probably the easiest of the trio. After all, she had admitted the truth by herself and was prepared to deal with the consequences. And she had been eager to get back his trust. Even if she didn't say it, he could tell by her body language and gestures.

He hoped that everybody was doing okay in their searches even though he probably had nothing to worry about. Sette had a good head on her shoulders while he trusted that Material-S would not create any more trouble since she was trying in her own way to make up for upsetting him earlier. She should also be able to keep Yami in line.

His mind turned back to the Combat Cyborg, who seemed to be well on the way to reforming into a more productive member of society. At this rate, all he would need to do is put in a few good words for her to get the judicial council to re-examine her sentence and possibly grant parole. If anything, it would make the other Numbers happy to see her again.

* * *

"I hafta deal with mages now? Argh, this morning is just getting more annoying!" With mages, it actually took a bit more time and effort to snuff them out compared to the regular Joes she slew when she dropped by the manufacturing plant. Unlike Cyph-nee, Arnage wasn't extremely enthusiastic about the killing and the fighting. She just wanted to enjoy life and all of its fine delicacies.

Material-S immediately opened up a telepathic conversation with her companion. _"How should we approach this? If she is like the previous ones we have met, our magic will not have any effect."_

Material-D didn't look worried about that. _"I have a hypothesis I want to test. Hold that mongrel off for a bit while I make my preparations." _

"_Preparations?" _

"_Right now, I have an opportunity to take a closer look at how that invulnerability against our magic works. As a bonus, I might be able to figure out how their regeneration ability ticks as well. We can't let this chance go to waste!"_

The Starlight Destroyer did see Yami's point although one thing did bother her. _"How will you go about conducting your analysis?" _

"_Just focus on your duty. I shall be the author of this tale's end."_ And that was all the Lord of Darkness would say as she disconnected the telepathic link and summoned her book to help with her spell preparations.

"Oi, if you think I'm gonna sit back and let you charge some big ass Colony Drop spell, you got another thing coming!" shouted Arnage as she dashed forward. However, Material-S was quick to react by firing a solid barrage of projectiles from Luciferion towards the redhead.

"Pyro Shooter!"

"Whoa!" She brought up her two swords to block the shots, causing the resulting explosion to throw her off balance. Seikou was about to prepare another barrage but to her surprise, her opponent recovered more quickly than anticipated and changed direction towards her. Reacting quickly, the Nanoha replica managed to block the strikes from the swords with Luciferion's long handle.

"Che…!" She didn't know why but there was something about those weapons that gave her a sense of nausea. Still, she remained focused on her next move even as the redhead started to talk.

"Don't do something stupid like throwing away your life, lady! You only get one! Or depending on your religious affiliation, several! Either way, it's a finite number so think it through!"

"Back… off!" Material-S raised her right leg and kicked the redhead away, causing her to stumble back towards the cart and motorcycle, before aiming the charged spell at her. "Blast Fire!"

The counterpart of Divine Buster easily destroyed the cart and bike while the other female shielded herself as best she could. And with her on the defensive, this was the perfect chance for Yami to strike.

"_**Bring forth spears and infuse them with the wind which flows gently across the land and the crimson fire burning bright!"**_ Several purple crystal needles floated out of the open tome before they flew out towards the target. "Rhongomyniad!"

"What the-" Arnage quickly deflected whatever crystals she could but one managed to sneak past her and buried itself in the bare skin just below her right knee. Before she could even yelp out in pain, the crystal exploded, causing debris to scatter everywhere.

"What was that?" asked Material-S as she remained on stand by while the smoke started to clear away.

"An upgrade to Yersinia Dagger. A slight aria modification and adjustment to the code gave me Rhongomyniad. If one of the crystal needles embeds itself into soft tissue, it detonates," explained the Lord of Darkness.

The Nanoha replica frowned. "That's… somewhat excessive." No doubt that anyone hit by such an attack would be left to die slowly, depending on where Yami decided to aim with those crystals.

"In case you haven't noticed, she's trying to kill us! Besides, she still has that regeneration power that I want to-" Material-D paused as the smoke cleared away and the two saw Arnage, who was clearly missing a foot and bleeding heavily from that area. But with the way she wasn't screaming her head off, it was obvious that she had something up her sleeve.

"Wow, you really are going out of the way to get under my skin," grumbled the redhead as a new right foot popped out, taking the place of the old one which got blown off.

"I think I understand it now. Their invulnerability is based off of rapidly decomposing the spell's code and mana bonds. From what I can tell, the decomposition rate for her has to be at least 20,000 points per second since she downgraded the explosive detonation velocity of my spell from 6,900 metres per second to only 400 metres per second!" The Hayate replica paused. "I wonder if the same rate applies for the other two or if it's a different rate per person…"

"Did you find out anything else?" The more information that Seikou could get on the enemy, the better.

"The rate at which her tissue regenerated was impressive. It was probably as good as mine. However, I still need to test whether the regeneration would still kick in if we attacked vital organs such as the heart or the brain. It could be the difference between using smaller spells to attack vital areas or using something like Excalibur to overwhelm her decomposition rate and destroy her entire body." Material-D gave a small little smirk. "But now that we have proper measurements, it will only be a matter of time until we determine how to handle these beasts."

"Only one problem with that theory of yours, lady." The redhead got up to her feet and brought one blade of hers against her right shoulder, drawing blood. "You're not gonna live long enough to put that particular puzzle together!"

"**Engage L/R Full Barrel 718. React."**

* * *

Material-L had faced some tough decisions in the past. Such as whether to go for the fried chicken legs or the fried chicken wings, deciding who would win in a fight between cavemen and astronauts and which limb to chop off from anyone stupid enough to get her mad.

But this… this was indeed the toughest one yet. She even needed to find a tiny corner and start shouting her usual intro speech to herself just to see if she liked the sound of it and because of Sette and that Squall wannabe being so loud in the background. "I am the terror that flaps in the night…"

*CLANG*

"I am the missing gear that causes the assembly to shut down…"

*CHOOM*

"I am Levi the Slasher?" The Fate replica paused to see if she liked the sound of it before deciding to try again. "I am the terror…"

Meanwhile, a brief interlude in the duel took place after the last clash between Veyron's blade and Sette's dual boomerangs. The two combatants were standing on opposite sides of the assembly line, taking the time to catch their breath.

So far, the Azure Grimoire was keeping up with her standards in terms of providing the proper gear and equipment for battle. Her barrier jacket was at least comfortable and didn't affect her balance. She had the same type of headpiece from her previous uniform along with shoulder armor. The rest of the jacket looked different color wise with the skin tight spandex being pink in color with splashes of red that somewhat resembled her old barrier jacket five years ago.

Although even with the clear instructions given to the book, it couldn't exactly replicate her old Inherent Equipment. So it provided her with these boomerangs (named MAXL and Thunderbolt respectively) that boasted similar magical defense abilities. Although it didn't have the cutting edge as the Boomerang Blades she worked with in the past, they gave a natural boost to whatever spells she had access to from the Grimoire.

But there was a little problem. During the fight, her first attempt to use a spell and weaken her opponent didn't do anything to him. It was like the moment it made contact with him, it dissolved into nothing. So that meant magic may not be too effective against him.

While she was busy contemplating a new strategy, the man across from her had a little smirk on his face. "I dunno what you're thinking but you know that whatever magic tricks you got won't work on me."

His smirk disappeared as she didn't say a word. Her only response was that same bland, dull look on her face as she slipped into her fighting stance. He didn't recognize it as her legs spread apart and her hands gripped the end edges of her weapons. And hovering close to her was that weird blue book. For a second, he thought it may have been the jackpot that Curren was looking for but it wasn't exactly giving off a same Eclipse Driver vibe.

The pink woman went into action just as he finished noticing that book, throwing her boomerangs in his direction. Because of the closed area they were fighting in, the homing trajectory of her weapons wouldn't be as effective. She should know that as a boomerang wielder so why did she toss her weapons anyway? Was she going to try and feint an opening?

It didn't matter to Veyron. With the Eclipse Infection running through his blood, he could shrug off whatever she threw at him. As he closed in, he swung his weapon at her body and was pleasantly surprised when she flipped backwards to plant her feet on the wall behind her before leaping towards him and slamming her right fist in his face, causing him to lose momentum. She followed up with a forward aerial somersault and timing her legs to kick him on the shoulders. That was enough to cause him to tumble below and slam right into the two boomerangs.

Sette quietly landed near the biker just as the boomerangs skidded right near her feet after losing speed from colliding with the man. She flexed her right hand softly, still feeling the odd tingling sensation in her knuckles. "He seems to be made of something incredibly durable."

Meanwhile, her opponent grumbled as he wiped off some of the blood coming from his nostrils. "Can't believe you actually busted my nose with that punch. What the hell are you?"

"A combat cyborg."

"Crap. No wonder you could break my bones so easily." He was aware that combat cyborgs didn't need magic to fight. And it was going to make her harder to kill. 'Looks like I'll have to kick it up a notch.' He thought to himself. "Double shell load."

'He's using two cartridges?' Before she could respond, she heard her Grimoire activate a spell on its own by opening itself up.

"_**Impulso Mortale."**_

From the pages, a sphere of blue and red energy fired out towards Veyron however the closer it got to him, the more it dissipated until only a small speck of magic hit his jacket and did nothing more than make him a bit more sparkly.

_Well, that didn't go well._

Before Sette could retort to JD's comment in her mind, Veyron made his move. "Flechette Mark II…" He spun around once, creating several bubbles of black energy around him before they all simultaneously exploded and unleashed a destructive shockwave of energy that spread out. "… Fated Circle!"

'That's…!' She had been prepared to dodge when once again, the Azure Grimoire kicked in with another spell.

"_**Teletrasporto."**_

She felt herself get teleported to safety where she saw the destructive shockwave below destroy much of the production equipment and conveyor belts. But there was no sign of her opponent…

_Above!_

The warning from JD alerted Sette to the diving Veyron who had managed to gain the higher ground when she had teleported and was now wielding a metallic glove on his left hand which was charged with energy. "NAPALM FANG!"

The book instantly reacted just as its Master moved to block the attack. _**"Rettitudine."**_

The spell cast by the book on its Master was boosting her defensive power but at the same time, she knew that she had to break free as her opponent was somehow managing to negate the spell effects while he was in her face.

_Huh… so that's how that guy's messing up any spell that's thrown at him._

'What?' Her vision slightly changed thanks to the book and she saw Veyron's blood-red aura which was eating up the blue aura that surrounded her blocking arm.

_An anti-magic aura has been bound to that guy's Linker Core. It seems to be set up so that magic can't directly affect him._

'That's useful information however I have other priorities to worry about.' Namely, that Napalm Fang attack that was edging closer to her.

"_**Monile dell'Alba."**_ The sudden flare that came from the book's pages was enough to force him off of her and hover right in front of her.

"Che…!" Veyron was starting to get rather annoyed, especially with that dull look of hers simply staring at him. "What are you looking at?"

"The strength of your fang… I sensed no pride in it. Material-L was incorrect in her earlier assessment. You are definitely not a lion." Normally, Sette wasn't much of a conversationalist during combat but she needed to stall for time until the book could give her options.

"Why you little…"

'Did you find anything?' It wouldn't be long until the battle resumed.

_If we can't target his body directly, we can either target his aura or use a spell that has a more global scale effect. Which would you prefer?_

'I have to end this as soon as possible so we can report this incident.'

JD understood right away. _Global scale effect spell it is. At the moment, we can only access this one spell and you're going to have to be the one to chant the aria. Not to mention it has a fair bit of charging time. We can use some of the stuff around here to bind the guy for a bit but the rest will be up to you._

'Roger that.' As Sette put a little distance from her opponent, the book once again worked some magic.

"_**Telecinesi."**_ The spell went about ripping apart conveyor belt chains before it tried to restrict Veyron's movements by wrapping the material around him.

For the combat cyborg, this was going to be the first time trying out an aria and from a foreign source of magic as well. But the moment she found the mechanics of the spell, the words just came to her naturally.

"In the audience of Dreadwing, I command that this service be honored. By the Æther Stream and the root of creation, gather before me and destroy the enemy!"

And that was enough for the Azure Grimoire to unleash what may be the most powerful magical spell it held in its repertoire.

"_**Bagliore della Nemesi."**_


	21. Meet Leopard and Jane Doe

Sette just took a moment to survey the destroyed scenery around her. By her estimates, the foundations of the facility were still intact although she didn't know how much they could have been weakened by that last spell she used against Veyron. 'That was…'

_One of the strongest attack spells of my era._ JD gave a small wistful sigh. _Ah, those were some good times when we had crazed leprechauns, werecreatures and wannabe Gods running about. And Peebos. Can't forget the Peebos._

'Can you detect that man?'

_Not really. I don't think that really killed him off if my readings are correct on his ability to break down magical bonds. If anything, we probably just blasted him halfway across the world._

'In that case, we better finish up here.' After she took a moment to summon the boomerangs back to her, she flew up to the last position where she had recalled seeing her blue haired companion. "Material-L, are you alright? Please respond."

"Owie…" Sette heard a muffled groan from further ahead and saw a pile of debris shift as the dazed Fate replica emerged, quite dusty and with a little cut on her cheek.

"Are you injured? I apologize for letting the situation escalate too far."

"Nah, it'll take a lot more than that to take me out," said Rai with a grin. "After all, my hit points are in the thousands! No, hundreds of thousands!"

"**By my last count, your hit points are one million, seven hundred seventy one thousand, five hundred and sixty one."**

"Really?" asked Sette in a flat tone of disbelief.

"**No, I'm just making it up."** Had Vulnificus been able to use facial expressions, he probably would have smirked in amusement.

"You're mean!" exclaimed Material-L as she dusted herself off. "Meanie, meanie, meanie!"

"Let's just get what we came for and then leave quickly. I would rather not stay here too long."

But it didn't seem that the Lightning Assailant had been paying attention to Sette as her eyes caught sight of the devastated lower section of the production assembly. "Did Seikou-chan and Yami-chan come here and do this?"

"No. I was the one responsible for that last explosion."

The Fate replica turned around with a puzzled look on her face. "You?"

"Yes," answered Sette with a nod.

"Really?"

"Affirmative." The pink haired woman paused in alarm when she saw tears forming up in her companion's face. She remembered at times like these that people cried tears when they were in emotional or physical pain so she moved to defuse things as best as she could. "Is there something wrong?"

"WAAAAHH!" In this case however, Material-L tackled Sette to the ground with a big fat hug which confused the cyborg.

"What is it?"

"It means you really are a part of the family now! WAAAAHH!"

Sette really didn't understand it but apparently, she had earned Material-L's full trust and perhaps something else. She concluded that this was a positive result as now Rai would not be as likely to go on 'spur of the moment' rampages. "Thank you… I guess. Now can you please get off me?"

"WAAAAHH!"

* * *

Material-D didn't waste any time in preparing another attack. Whatever this Reaction phenomenon was, she wasn't certain if she wanted to see it up close. She made a quick modification to her Doom Bringer spell to include an anti-barrier function before she fired. "Carnwennan!"

Material-S also joined in the attack as well. "Pyro Shooter!"

Arnage's swords glowed briefly before they expanded into something large enough to block the attacks, causing a large explosion to force the two replicas back. As they waved off the smoke as best they could, they heard their opponent shout an order. "Load Fire Ammo!"

"**Flame Shot."**

It was enough of a warning for them to avoid the barrage of fire bullets that came their way. The both of them took to the air and split apart when a second barrage was fired. It didn't take long for their enemy to fly up herself, wielding a large machine gun in her right hand and a missile launcher in her left. Despite the rather bulky appearance, it didn't seem that Arnage had any problems moving around with them which kept Seikou on alert. "What is that…?" muttered the Nanoha replica under her breath.

"Lemme introduce ya both to my Reacted Divider! The gatling gun here's named Leopard! A bit of a wacky fella but he's a lot of fun once you get to know him!"

"**I CAN FLY!"** shouted a voice that came from the gatling gun in an over the top tone.

"Yes, yes… you can fly." The redhead then brought up her missile launcher in her left hand. "And this is Jane Doe! Talks a lot about zoos and farms…"

"**And I hate hippies too!"** cut in the missile launcher. **"Damn maggots are always looking for ways to move society backwards a few thousand years. They're also the type of morons who would be proud of taking a stunning defeat in the face of victory. If the thought of the entire universe embracing that hippie crap doesn't scare you out of your frilly pink leotards, guess what: You are an idiot and you hate America."**

There was a brief awkward silence before the Huckebein merely continued on as if she hadn't been interrupted. "… and really hates hippies."

"I am having trouble understanding why a weapon with a clearly masculine voice would use a feminine name," commented Material-S.

Arnage shrugged. "Hey, as long as he does his duty, he can call himself Wolf or Rick or whatever! Now what do you think of my pals?"

"How… dreadfully ugly! There's no sense of grace or dignity in those things!" screeched the Lord of Darkness while she tried to figure out how the Reaction messes up the previous numbers that she had calculated for the magical dissipation rate and the healing rate. The most likely scenario is that she'll have to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new experiment to properly measure that aspect.

"So what? They still blow stuff up real good! And speaking of blowing stuff up, that first ammo batch didn't seem to work too well. Leopard, load Dark Ammo!" shouted Arnage. The gatling gun in her right arm responded by spinning the barrels as the appropriate bullets were swapped in.

"**Dark Shot."**

The Hayate replica snarled as she saw some of the neon green projectiles head her way. "Fool! I am the Lord of Darkness! What makes you think that such an attack would have any effect on me? _Schattenbannung_!" She willed her magic to come forth, with a Belkan triangle bathed in a black aura forming underneath her feet before the shaded lines took a life of its own and formed a defensive barrier to protect her from the attack. A few bullets started to seep through but a quick wind spell generated by Yami deflected the rest away from her.

Material-S didn't exactly have such a specialized defensive spell like Yami did and had to rely on her device. "Luciferion!"

"**Protection powered."** As soon as she held out her hand, a Mid-Childan circle appeared in front and blocked the bullets but the impact wasn't as strong as she had expected. She pondered over this for a moment before noticing something odd. Her body's reactions were slower than usual and it wasn't responding as normally as it should.

'A delayed effect…?'

Arnage grinned as she saw the expression on Seikou's change to one of confusion. "Alright! Take that bee-yotch down, Jane!"

"**SCREAMING EAGLES!"** shouted the missile launcher as it released the entire payload at once towards the immobilized Starlight Destroyer. However Material-D was already on the move, preparing the needed spell to counter the negative status effect on her friend.

"_Beschleunigung_." The speed burst spell was enough to restore Seikou's reflexes to normal and dodge the first two missiles which collided with each other. The resulting explosion weakened the trajectory of the remaining four missiles. Another wind spell from Yami further forced them off course until they crashed into one of the upper administrative offices of the plant, setting it on fire.

"_My thanks, Material-D." _

"_Call me 'Your Majesty!'"_ complained the Hayate replica telepathically before taking a moment to reassess the situation. _"Do you have any plans on how to deal with her?" _

"_Unfortunately, nothing substantial is coming to mind. The only plan I can think of which carries the best risk to reward ratio is creating a large enough explosion to propel her elsewhere or bury them underneath the ground where they will need time to resurface."_

Material-D didn't like it one bit but until she could research how the Reaction process works, it was the only option available to her which maximized her safety. _"Agreed."_

"Argh! That's it… Leopard, load Pulse Ammo! We're taking them both out with a high burst Hyper Shot!" screamed Arnage.

"**Hmph… so you've decided that burning through your Pulse Ammo so quickly is worth it? That stuff's hard to synthesize you know… and it'll cost you too,"** warned Leopard.

"Like what?"

"**I want toilet paper rolls to add to my collection. And not just any toilet paper rolls but the ones that have been blessed by the rear ends of lovely maidens such as-"**

"JUST SHUT UP AND ATTACK, YOU PERVERTED GUN!"

The gatling guns began spinning again as the Pulse Ammo got loaded into the chambers. But before Arnage could fire her shot, she sensed something coming from above and heading in her direction in freefall. A familiar looking body that looked somewhat charred and dazed…

'It can't be… Vey-nii?' She moved to catch him as best as she could but when his body slammed into hers, the both of them were sent plummeting to the ground.

"Ow…" came the muffled response of the biker.

"The hell…? Vey-nii, what happened?" grunted the redhead from underneath.

The man known as Veyron of Huckebein merely groaned once before he responded. "Got hit by a helluva spell. Couldn't force it to cancel in time before it blasted me here."

In the meantime, Material-D took this chance to prepare one final aria. "I call upon the Ancient ones of Keld… grant me Reaver, the second wind of ascension and slay the unworthy fools who stand before me!" She held her staff above her head and summoned a gigantic black sphere of energy before hurling it towards the fallen Huckebein. "_Teuflisches Edikt!_"

Arnage shoved Veyron's body away from her and pointed the barrels of the gatling towards the rapidly descending black sphere. "Leopard, fire!"

"**Hyper Shot."** Several large powerful blasts erupted from the gun, each chipping away a bit of the sphere until the last one punched through and forced Yami to dodge it.

"Hah! How do you like…" The redhead trailed off as she noticed the residual magical particles all flying upwards above her. "… them apples?"

One look up revealed a large pink Mid-Childan circle, courtesy of the Starlight Destroyer who had finished gathering the leftover bits of magic for her signature finishing technique.

"Luciferion Breaker!"

And Arnage only had two words that came to mind as the gigantic pink beam came down towards her and Veyron.

"… aw, nuts."

* * *

"Yuu-nii, we're home!" cried out Material-L as she and Sette entered the ship from the back door.

The Librarian finished inputting the data for the coordinates that take into account the revised compensation variable that he calculated. "Welcome back. How did things go?"

"It went well! Sette-chan finally became a part of our family by blowing up Not Squall! I even gave her a big initiation hug and everything!" Rai paused for a moment while putting away whatever food she had been able to retrieve from their trip. "Although for people with Shipping Goggles, they'll see it as a lesbian moment."

"Huh? Wait, say that again?" Yuuno wanted to be sure that he wasn't losing his hearing.

"I said people who are obsessed with girl's love stuff are probably gonna start shipping me and Sette-chan as soon as they know about that hug back there."

"No, no…" He really should have been more specific. "I meant the other stuff. Blowing up… Not Squall?"

Sette quickly took over. "Upon our arrival at one of the manufacturing plants, we found that the workforce had been slaughtered and the character mentioned by Material-L is highly suspected to be responsible according to the Azure Grimoire's readings. It would be best if you looked at it yourself." With a nod to the floating blue book behind her, the battle data was transferred to the ship's main computer, allowing Yuuno to see for himself the enemy that the Combat Cyborg had duelled.

"Wait a minute…!" He paused some of the footage to zoom in on the biker figure. "That's who you fought? Did you get a name?"

"Negative."

So much for getting an identity on the attacker and possibly getting one step closer to cracking the puzzle. If anything though, he could conclude that this character wasn't the one who attacked him earlier even though they looked very similar to each other with the way they dressed and where they had their indigo wing tattoo. But the key difference was the weapon.

The device of the attacker in the image looked more like a fusion of a shotgun and a sword while the one who tried to kill him and the Materials about a week ago had a similar device but there was no shotgun barrel. He recalled that there was a shotgun handle but it only went up to a certain point before fusing with the blade itself.

In any case, this would be useful information to add to the case file which was what he had originally came out to do. "Is that…?"

Both Yuuno and Sette turned around to see Yami and Seikou entering the ship. "You met this man before?"

"He dropped in on our opponent suddenly. Considering his landing, it was likely that he had been caught up in an explosion of some sort," commented Seikou.

"Sette-chan did it!" chirped Material-L just as she finished putting away the frozen food.

The Hayate replica raised an eyebrow, mildly fascinated. "You were responsible?"

"Affirmative," replied the Combat Cyborg before turning back to Yuuno. "We need to report this incident to the local law enforcement agency since this world is not administrated by the Bureau."

"If you are making a report, you may as well add what we have witnessed on our end," said the Starlight Destroyer before she felt herself latched on from behind by the Fate replica.

"You saw a bunch of dead bodies and got into a boss fight too? Was it a tough battle? Did you get some good background music going?"

"Yes, we saw multiple corpses lying about the plant before getting into a fight with some woman named Arnage. She was a most irritating opponent with regenerative abilities and a device that can apparently change into a new form by 'Reacting'. No, there was no music," droned Seikou in that monotone of hers. "And why are you hugging me?"

"Do I need a reason to hug someone from my family?"

"Hold on a second! Just let me start recording this information…" Yuuno scrambled to get his laptop.

"Sure, let's all get some family photos together but we need to keep it private! Otherwise, if they get out, some deluded shipper could interpret any shots without Yuu-nii as 'ZOMGLESBIANYAY'."

"Rai, I don't care about the…" He really had no idea how the Lightning Assailant managed to pronounce that word that started with the Z so he just went with what he managed to hear. "… lesbian stuff right now! There are more important things than that!"


	22. The Chapter with No Materials

Arnage had to admit that was a damn big ass blast that nailed her and Veyron. After all, it had been strong enough to bury them several feet underground.

Getting air was a bit difficult. Even though there were enough openings for air to pass through from above, it wasn't exactly a huge amount. The two of them couldn't exert a lot of energy or simply blast their way out since that could make the situation worse by being buried under more rubble and dirt. They weren't exactly experts on teleportation spells. That left digging back up to the surface by hand which took quite some time and left Arnage dirty, hungry and most certainly grumpy. Veyron seemed to be feeling a lot better from earlier so that was good news.

She had managed to roughly compute how far they were buried based on the attack duration and speed. So by her estimate, they should be reaching the surface. Just as her hand burst through to open air, she felt herself get grabbed by another hand before being pulled up to the surface.

She gasped loudly as fresh oxygen reached her lungs and reached for her goggles in order to shield her eyes since going straight from the dark underground into the bright outdoors wasn't exactly pleasant. "Kyaaa… too bright!"

"You okay?" asked a gruff female voice.

"Cy-nee?" Once her vision started settling down, Arnage managed to make out the figure of her pseudo older sister, Cypha. Behind her was the large and shirtless Deville who had just pulled out Veyron. "And Ville-nii… what are you two doing here?"

"Stella was worried." Deville as usual was a man of few words. A glance upwards confirmed the presence of the _Esquad Hückebein_ hovering around the area.

All Arnage could do was give a small sigh. The little one really did worry too much for her own age although it was nice to see that she really cared. "Geez…"

"Weren't you guys doing a mission or something?" asked Veyron as he popped one of his joints back into place.

"Finished early. Just a straight up assassination mission along with a bit of chaos and destruction here and there to keep the war going on Orussia. Nothing fancy," said Cypha. "What about you two? You were only on a resupply mission and you looked like someone who just came out of a war zone."

Arnage groaned and rubbed her forehead tiredly. "Came across a pair of mages, pretty powerful ones too. They actually managed to hurt me before Vey-nii crashed the party and messed up my attack, giving one of the mages time to blast us with something I never ever seen before."

"And the spell that hit me… I couldn't fully disassemble the magical bonds in time to neutralize the effect," grumbled the male biker as he deactivated his Divider.

Cypha's visible eye merely narrowed when she heard the report. "Interesting. Did you get a name?"

Arnage shook her head. "They didn't say anything other than attack names and some weird stuff."

"I remember the mages who fought me. The blue haired psycho's called Material-L while that she called that pink haired combat cyborg Sette, who was pretty boring but packed a good punch."

Deville took a moment to absorb this information before responding to Veyron. "They weren't affiliated with the Bureau, were they?"

"Nah… they didn't have that officer vibe on them. And I don't know where they were heading so tracking them down's not likely."

Cypha considered this for a moment before shrugging. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. We'll just keep an eye out for them and if they cross paths with us again, we'll do things properly next time around."

* * *

Mariel really didn't know what her superiors were thinking when they assigned her to this latest project. First and foremost, she was a device engineer. Which meant her specialty was in devices.

'So why am I tackling the dimensional dampener power problem?' She could understand that as the Bureau was stretching itself in terms of man power but really, who came up with the bright idea to try installing a cartridge system on the dampeners themselves to boost efficiency? The system was originally meant to be used on devices.

It must be a sign of the times. The higher ups must be pretty nervous but they had good reason to be. Mages that were ranked S or higher didn't come along often. Now they had confirmation that there were three hostile ones coming their way. It wasn't going to be a question of victory or defeat in this instance. The question is how much damage will be caused to Mid-Childa and the citizens before they triumph over the Materials?

The sound of her office chime snapped her out of her thoughts. "Uh, yes! Come in!"

The door slid open to allow Nanoha Takamachi to enter. "Good afternoon, Mariel-san."

"Nanoha-san? How can I help you?" It was as good an excuse as any to take a break from her current work.

"I need to ask you for a favour. I already got the paperwork cleared and you've been approved to work on my request." She passed over a data rod which was plugged into the lab computer so that Mariel could read up on the details.

"Let's see what we got… here…" The device engineer trailed off as she read her orders before turning back to Nanoha. "Are you serious about this?"

"Yes."

"Nanoha-san, there's a specific reason why standard magazine sizes are kept to six cartridges. This is to prevent strain on the device and on the user! And you're asking me to…?" Mariel took a moment to wipe her glasses in an effort to calm herself down before resuming. "And you're asking that we try and manufacture smaller cartridges that contain the same amount of magic as a standard one just so you can fit more cartridges in a magazine?"

"It's either that or increasing the magazine size to fit in more cartridges. And I don't think I would be able to move around as well if I had to carry heavier magazines," admitted the tactical instructor.

"You really picked a poor time to put in the request. The production crew's already pulling extra time to complete all the production runs as ordered by our superior officers! I don't even know if we'll have time to try reworking the cartridge size dimensions and not to mention getting stronger material to construct a reinforced magazine casing…" She could already imagine the fit the production crew would have.

"I know that but if our enemies pick up that I'm mainly bombardment, they won't give me chances to reload my cartridges often. That's why I need this." A distant look appeared in the young woman's blue eyes. "I'm going to need every ace I can get in order to stay one step ahead of those Materials and end this quickly before anyone gets hurt. Everyone else is pulling their weight while I'm just…"

There was that look again. That downward expression when Nanoha was aware that in light of the current circumstances, she couldn't be as helpful as she wanted.

Mariel decided to get that fixed up right away. "You're sounding a bit angsty there. Don't get angsty on me now like in the movie."

"… … wait, what?" That just caught the other woman off guard. Without a word, the device engineer pointed to the coffee table where a worn copy of the companion guide to the semi-biographical movie lay on the surface. As soon as Nanoha put the implications together, she started sputtering. "W-wait a minute! I'm not…! They exaggerated!"

"If you ask me, the one thing the movie makers definitely exaggerated was the size of your Starlight Breaker but that's another story. Look, you need to calm down."

"I wish I could but with everything that's going on and the thought of Yuuno-kun being in the clutches of someone like them…!"

Ah, that would make sense. This emotional reaction of hers stemmed all the way from Nanoha's first impression of the boy when they met fifteen years ago. If Mariel recalled correctly from that movie, their first meeting happened when he was badly injured and in his ferret form. "Nanoha-san, let me offer you some advice: stop thinking of Yuuno as a male 'damsel in distress'."

"Damsel in…?" For some reason, the thought of Yuuno in a flowing princess gown going 'Save me!' wormed its way into her brain and caused her to laugh a little. "Nyahaha… that's too much!"

"Er, yeah…" At least Nanoha seemed to be snapping out of that funk from earlier. "Sure, he's obviously not going to overpower his captors but that's not his main strength. You of all people should know that he's valuable because of his ingenuity and ability to improvise on the fly. His main objective in this current situation is to stay alive and to come home. That shouldn't be too hard for a man as resourceful as him."

There was a long pause before the tactical instructor relaxed a little. "You're right. He's definitely coming back!"

Mariel smiled. "That's the Nanoha-san I remember."

"Sorry for venting a bit earlier. I guess fatigue's catching up to me. Trying to keep up on investigation details while continuing my regular duties…" She paused as she gave a loud yawn. "And I didn't get much sleep last night due to Vivio's early wake up call."

"Maybe you should enjoy that while it lasts. In a few years, you're probably going to have to drag that girl out of bed to make it to school on time. My mom can speak from experience." The device engineer paused for a moment. "What was the occasion for waking you up early?"

"I don't know. I just vaguely remember some singing, some dancing… her shouting Bonjour. I asked her not to do it again since she's supposed to be more mature than that. And after that wake up call, the first thing I see when I get into the kitchen is a box of Hyper Frosted Amur-Ohs!"

Ah, yes… that cereal that's high in sugar that's all the rage among a lot of younger kids in the city. "You didn't get that for her?"

"Of course not! I make sure that Vivio eats healthy! The only one who could have responsible is Fate-chan and when I asked her about it, she protested that it was given to her for free at the supermarket and that it would have been rude to turn it down. That just gets me thinking that the only other reason to accept free groceries is to save money and direct it towards clothes shopping since once again, she needs a new set of undergarments…!"

'Oh dear… now I've gone from hearing Angsty Nanoha to Complaining Housewife Nanoha…' Mariel sighed mentally. 'What have I gotten myself into?'

* * *

"It's been a while since we walked home from school together, Einhart-san," chirped Vivio Takamachi as they went about their usual route through the city after school.

"I apologize. I've been rather busy as of late," said the other girl softly.

"But we've only just started the semester! Did you already join a club? I haven't figured out if I wanted to join the Strike Arts club or the literary club or if I wanted to branch into something totally new like Lio-san and Corona-san did."

"They already joined a club?" That would explain why they're not here.

"Mm-hmm! Corona-san's gotten into the magical artifact research club while Lio-san just joined a club which studies different magic systems!" The eleven year old paused. "So what about you?"

"I have been occupied with preparing for high school entrance exams."

Vivio frowned upon hearing her friend's response. "That's still months away. You're not graduating until the end of the year, right?"

Einhart brushed a loose strand of her silver green hair away from her face. "If I'm going to be accepted into my first choice of high school, then I need to be on top of my studies."

"Isn't that a bit lonely? Studying all by yourself? Unless you got Tio with you."

Upon hearing his name, a small device in the shape of a snow leopard poked his head out of Einhart's school bag. "Rowr?"

"Actually, I have a study partner to keep me focused and motivated. He's planning to go to the same high school as I am so we are helping each other." The Hegemon's descendent held out her hand for her device. He ended up scampering up her extended arm to take a resting place on her shoulder.

That got Vivio's attention. "A friend? What's he like? Is he nice?" She paused for a moment. "Does he even go to our school? Maybe I've met him before."

"He doesn't attend St. Hilde. He's been taking an accelerated academic program in order to catch up on the school that he missed," replied Einhart. "It was only recently that he entered a local middle school to enjoy a normal student life."

"Was he sick when he was younger?"

She shook her head. "I do not fully understand the details but from what I was able to hear, he had experienced a highly traumatic event several years ago on his home world. But despite that, he has endured and is making a new life for himself. If it hadn't been for the news about those dangerous mages coming to this world, he probably would be out travelling, exploring and searching for ways to close the door on his past so he could move on towards his future. He truly is an admirable person."

"Hm, that sounds familiar…" Vivio vaguely recalled hearing something like that before when she visited Einhart just shortly after she moved in with the Nakajima family. "In any case, you must really like him if you think he's admirable."

That innocent comment got Einhart's cheeks to flush lightly. "Well, I…"

"Ahhh… it'll be a sad day when you leave us behind and go pursue your passion for that other friend of yours!"

She began shaking her head wildly as the blush intensified. "Nonononono! I still care about you a lot and-"

Vivio giggled. "Nyahahaha! I'm just joking, you know. I'm glad to hear that you're making other friends too."

Since when did she get so playful and teasing? Unless…

'Olivie…' Einhart didn't feel too surprised. Lingering emotions and memories from Claus have influenced her own thoughts and feelings at times. The same case should apply to her friend. In this situation, it would seem that Vivio had inherited that playful side of the last Sankt Kaiser.

The sudden movements of her friend searching her school bag brought the Hegemon's descendent back to reality. "Is something wrong?"

"Odd… I thought I had an unfinished water bottle in here. I guess I'll have to get home for a drink."

"There's a vending machine up ahead at that department store. I'll buy you something." Just as the two reached the machine, they saw a young boy, dressed in a sharp black school uniform, picking up some iced coffee for himself. It didn't take long for Einhart to recognize the figure. "Touma-kun?"

"Oh, hey! Fancy seeing you around this neck of the woods!"

"So that's the friend you were talking about?" Vivio leaned a bit closer to examine the boy's features better. "W-wait a minute! I do remember seeing you a few months back at the Inter-Middle City Tournament! You were Einhart-san's towel boy!"

Touma gave a nervous laugh. "Well, my sisters were called out to a work related emergency so I had to take over helping out Einhart with cool down, rehydration and stuff like that. To be honest, I really wasn't sure if I was doing it right since I'm not much into these things."

"You did well enough. If it had not been for your efforts, I most likely would have been eliminated from the tournament earlier," replied Einhart before seeing Vivio close in on Touma and cup his face with her hands. "Vivio-san, what are you…?"

"Despite all that has happened to you, your eyes reflect warmth and strength." The eleven year old smiled. "I can see why Einhart-san is fond of you."

'She commented on his eyes, just like how I did with her…' A growing feeling of horror rose up in the thirteen year old girl's chest. 'It can't be…'

"Rowr?" Asteon couldn't tell what was distressing his master so but it didn't seem to be life threatening so he let it be.

'Dammit, not another one!' It was bad enough that she had to wrestle for the boy's attention from the Nakajima sisters and now it looked like a new challenger has appeared.

"Um… can you…?" He really wasn't sure what to do here with his face being held so tenderly by the little girl's hands.

"Sorry… but can I just stay like this a little bit longer?"

And all the while, Einhart silently fumed. 'Stupid Touma! Stupid, sexy Touma!'

* * *

"Paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork. I really wonder who's the bright crayon who came up with all that red tape," growled Agito as she hitched a ride on her partner's right shoulder while they walked through one of the hallways of Section Six HQ. "It takes freaking forever just to try and requisition cartridges nowadays."

"It can be tricky navigating the system but apparently, this is to make it easier for year end audits to keep track of how the Bureau is allocating resources," replied Signum before noticing several uniformed men and women exiting out of a room at a hurried pace. She recognized them as members of Division Five, Section Two (Vita's squadron) by the insignia on their uniforms.

A quick detour led her to that room where she saw her fellow comrade packing up some stuff while grumbling under her breath.

"Stupid squad… stupid Materials…"

"Vita, what's wrong?" asked Signum. She didn't appear to get any response as more grumbling from the smaller officer was heard.

"… stupid ideas…"

"Vita!"

That finally got the Crimson Iron Rider's attention. "Oh. What's up?"

"Good afternoon to you too. I take it your strategic meeting with your squadron wasn't as productive as you had wanted?"

The short redhead gave a small grunt. "Nope. Instead of giving out some real serious ideas on how to handle the enemy based on the limited psych profiles that were drawn up, they end up wasting time with silly nonsense. Talking to those Materials… like that's gonna accomplish anything! I mean, they pretty much declared their intentions on that broadcast!"

"… … for some reason, I feel that there's a certain sense of irony in the air," grumbled the taller woman to herself.

"What's that?"

"Er, nothing to worry about, Agito." Signum paused for a bit. "So we're ruling out a diplomatic approach. What results did you obtain from the meeting?"

That annoyed look came back to Vita's face. "Get this. For a battle strategy, they suggested using trash talk and taunts! Did they not read the psychological profiles? How is that going to be effective?"

"We have psychological profiles on the Materials?" asked Agito.

The Knight of the Iron Hammer nodded. "It's somewhat limited based on the behaviour they exhibited during the broadcast. A copy of the report got mailed out to all essential staff a few hours ago. You two didn't read it?"

Signum shook her head. "Actually, we had been occupied by other duties and had not yet gone through our messages for the day. But in any case, isn't it a bit premature creating such profiles on limited information? For all we know, those Materials could be faking those personalities as a misdirection tactic."

"Yeah but what else do we have to work with? Besides, when did having inconclusive information stop us from completing our mission?"

The General of the Raging Fire exhaled softly in exasperation. "Alright. Break it down for us. What do we have on them?"

Three holographic displays popped up between the officers showing images of the women taken from the broadcast along with some data. "The Nanoha lookalike seemed to have a cold and focused attitude. She did show some sort of concern for Yuuno. Kinda reminds me of the old you when we started living with Hayate."

"I see." Her gaze then focused on the image of the blue haired woman. "What of the Testarossa replica? It seems that she may be immature enough to be affected."

"If you want to hear what I think, she'll simply respond with her own insults and it'll degenerate into two kids calling each other names on an elementary school playground." Vita paused for a second. "Just like what Agito and Rein do back at home once in a while."

"OI!"

A very tiny smirk of amusement appeared on Signum's lips before she focused on the last portrait. "And her? The one who resembles Hayate?"

Vita growled under her breath. "That's the one who pisses me off the most. Look at her. Doesn't it remind you of something?"

"Yes… it does." The posture, the arrogance in her eyes… it brought back some memories of the old masters they had served in the time where victory was life and defeat meant losing everything. It was as if someone had taken every dark memory of the crueller masters they had served in the past and put it all together into one person. And worst of all, she was shaped like the Master they found happiness with.

"Signum? You okay?" asked the Unison Device from her position.

"Sorry, Agito… just thinking of something." The taller woman took a moment to regain focus. "While normally I would not encourage this type of behaviour on the battlefield, I believe there is some possible merit in this so-called 'trash talk'."

Her fellow Knight merely stared at her. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Any moment where an enemy is blinded by anger and recklessness because of a loss of emotional control can yield an advantage in our favour. It would make reading their combat movements easier and cause them to burn up more energy."

"Will it really work?" asked Agito.

"Perhaps not for the Takamachi replica but the current psychological profiles on the others suggest that this tactic could have some value."

"Why don't you prove it to me?"

"Very well. Let's take you for example, Vita." Signum paused a moment before coming up with something appropriate to illustrate her point. "I will write something insulting on that billboard you call a chest."

"What the hell? That was uncalled for, Signum!" shouted the shorter girl.

The taller woman merely shrugged. "And in that moment of anger, I could have spotted an opening easily and went straight for it to finish you in one blow if we had been duelling. I rest my case."

"HAH! Like you can pull that off, you saggy boob demon."

"Saggy?" Being called a boob demon was one thing but… _saggy?_ "Would you care to rephrase that?"

"Nah! I'm fine with calling you a saggy, fat-assed, boob demon!"

"I see that you still remain unconvinced of my earlier point. Perhaps we should put it to the proper test in the heat of battle," said Signum in an eerily calm tone as she held out Laevatein in its miniature form.

Vita smirked as she readied Graf Eisen. "Fine by me!"

"Alright, knock it off you two!" shouted Agito who caught the two Knights by surprise. "If you wanna duke it out so badly, go do it at a practice field and not here where you will damage everything! Because if you blow things up here, that means Hayate gets mad at us and that means no dessert! And I'll be damned if I miss warabimochi night because of you!"

After a moment of awkward silence, Signum was the first to recover. "Er… in that case, shall we resume this once we've moved to a more appropriate location?"

"Gimme ten minutes to pack away the stuff. Then I'll pound ya into paste with Eisen," replied Vita.

"Hmph. I would like to see you try," said the taller woman as she left the office, leaving an annoyed Crimson Iron Rider behind.

'Dammit, she got the last word! Again!'


	23. Material Flags

It had been a rather long day for Yuuno thanks to conducting four exhaustive interviews among the girls regarding the enemies that they had encountered. Okay, technically three as Material-L's responses weren't exactly the most productive so he had to cut that one short.

Sette and Seikou were very detailed with their descriptions when he had spoken to them. With a bit of help from the image software on his laptop, he had been able to reconstruct fairly accurate images of the enemies along with their weapons. The girl's weapon, the Divider, was rather intriguing. Without any sort of cartridge system, it was able to completely transform itself from a pair of blades to a pair of large artillery guns through an unknown process called Reaction.

He couldn't tell for sure if the biker encountered by the Combat Cyborg and the Lightning Assailant had the same capability. Even though that man was associated with that busty redhead due to sharing the same mark and was addressed as a comrade of sorts by the red haired girl when he dropped in on their battle, Sette hadn't observed him pulling any similar transformation and Seikou didn't bother letting him have a chance to try anything once the fight's momentum went her way. Could he be a lower ranked member?

Honestly, it felt as the entire puzzle got shifted with more pieces coming in only for other gaps to rise up. Yuuno wished that he could have tried reconstructing an image of the other pair who bore the same tattoo but he wasn't sure if he would have remembered all the details correctly. It wasn't likely that Seikou would be able to clearly remember as well since her concern at the time was more on survival.

Yami had provided some useful information during her interview, whenever she hadn't been ranting on about how she was insulted by her opponent's total lack of grace and dignity. In particular, her calculations on the girl's ability to negate magic and regenerate extreme wounds proved to be valuable information. Sette had been able to confirm a similar ability of magic negation from the man she had fought although her Device had not been able to track the rate of decomposition since it was occupied at the time.

'Magic negation that's generated from an individual mage and not from something mechanical like a Gadget Drone… perhaps it's a side effect of those who had come into contact with that Lost Logia?' He had been trying to make connections with all the information that he had been logging over his journey and was certain that these criminals knew something about the Book of the Silver Cross. Maybe that woman who attacked him and the Materials last week had it? Her book certainly looked like it and bore the same crest.

The Librarian sighed to himself. Seriously, with all the extra work and information he had gathered on this case, he should be able to use it as a way to bargain for a reduced sentence with the Bureau's prosecution when the Materials go to trial. It's a bit of a long shot but whatever helps these girls to better integrate into normal society easier was better than nothing.

The aroma of tea snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Material-S offering him a hot teacup and saucer set. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Yuuno-san." She took a seat while he sipped the beverage. "How have things been going?"

"Pretty well. I'm starting to make some connections with the people that you fought and my original Lost Logia assignment. Maybe I should branch out to criminal investigation in case I get blacklisted from any other archaeological digs?" He gave a light chuckle at the thought. "What about you?"

"I had been anxious for some time. You had not given me a response to my confession."

Honestly, that line could have came out of a dating sim game but in this case, the bad ending that results from a poorly worded answer could be catastrophic. How should he even start…? "Sorry, Seikou… it's been pretty hectic."

"I understand," replied the Nanoha replica quietly.

"I did take some time to think it over. And here's how I feel about it." He put his tea aside before reaching for her hand. "When the moment came to make a decision, you made the right one. You chose to tell the truth and face the consequences. So long as you can still do that, I will still be happy to call you my friend."

Seikou felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "I'm glad to hear those words. And I…" She paused for a moment in order to choose her words. "I don't want to lose myself in such anger again. I thought I was in control of myself when in fact, my emotions were controlling me."

He still found it a little hard to believe that she could be like that since she had always shown herself to a restrained and quiet individual. "Well, I hope that you understand that using violence isn't always the best solution for a problem."

"I admit that using non-violent approaches to problem solving do not often cross my mind. Not that I have any preference but the application of proper force usually tends to get great results rather quickly. Especially against those who do not understand the futility of trying to attack us," said the Starlight Destroyer without hesitation.

'Oh boy, let's try and steer her back…' Yuuno reached for his tea again. "But you do know bind magic, right? You could always just disable enemies. Or simply raise up a powerful shield and let them know that attacking you would be futile."

"To be honest, my focus has been on bombardment magic. I haven't really thought about spending time to refine bind spells and shields."

"That could be something I could help you with. I work a lot with bind and shield spells so I can give you a few pointers if you would like."

If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn that Seikou's blue eyes sparkled in delight at that thought. "You wouldn't mind?"

"But only if you try using a non-violent approach to settle your issues first." Might as well tack on that condition first since he has the opportunity to do so.

"Your conditions are acceptable. Please teach me, Yuuno-sensei!"

"S-sure!" For a second there, she just sounded like Nanoha way back when he first met her and started teaching her what he could about magic and…

Oh, God… … there was that sparkle again. If she kept this up, he was probably going to die of cuteness overload.

Fortunately for Yuuno's mental well-being, the sparkles that were shining in Seikou's blue eyes instantly vanished the moment when the two were interrupted by Material-D entering the bridge, looking rather irritated. 'Oh boy… what's up with her now?' He hoped that it wouldn't be anything serious.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Material-S, who concealed her annoyance upon this interruption.

The Lord of Darkness glanced at the Librarian. "Peasant, have you completed your investigation work?"

He paused for a moment before realizing what she meant. "Oh, that? I guess I did everything I can for now."

"Then have you forgotten what I asked you after our interview? I wanted to have a word with you in private," said the Hayate replica with her green eyes sharply glaring at Yuuno.

That got the blonde man stuttering. "Uh… you mean… m-mana reple-"

"NOT THAT, YOU PERVERTED MONGREL!" screeched Yami, with her cheeks rather red at the thought.

"Then what is it? Unless you want to…" It suddenly dawned on Seikou what her friend intended to do.

"You know something?" asked Yuuno.

"Not particularly. But you should go and get your meeting with Material-D done quickly before her mood worsens." She managed a small smile. "Once you're done, if you're still up to teaching me, I'll be right here."

He was a bit concerned about the sudden change in mood but if she felt that dealing with whatever was bothering Yami was more important… "Alright, I'll be back later."

As the two departed the bridge, Material-S hoped that things would turn out for the best. But considering that she was certain that Material-D would come clean with the Mind Bend spell, she was going to have to get used to seeing a gloomy Yuuno again.

* * *

"Geez, this is a pretty bumpy ride," grumbled Erio to himself as he could feel the light constant vibrations through the bulkheads of the vessel.

"Hey, these dimensional distortions just keep popping up! Be thankful that the flight plan's still more or less on schedule!" complained the male pilot from up ahead at the helm. "Seriously, when did this region of space get so distorted?"

"Any clue as to what could be causing it?" The tall red haired young man looked at the instruments but he couldn't make heads or tails out of the readings.

"Might be a natural phenomenon that doesn't match up to what we have in our database but that doesn't seem likely since I don't see anything around here that could even generate a distortion in the first place."

"It could be something artificial. Like an experimental engine…? Or maybe…" The thought of actual super powered mages without limiters traveling through the area and inadvertently causing the distortion crossed Erio's mind but he quickly dismissed it.

"Hell if I know. We don't have the time to investigate it so I'll just log it and pass it on so that our superior officers can deal with it."

"Fair enough." He moved back to where his partner and her summon were resting in the small passenger area. "How's he holding up?"

Caro merely kept stroking the little dragon's neck as he rested on her lap. "Fried's just a little sick from being in a confined space for the past few days. I'm sure once we land on Carnaaji, he'll feel a lot better."

"That's true." Erio slowly placed his own hand on Friedrich's head and rubbed it softly. "Hang in there. It'll only be two more days' travel tops."

"Ku… ku…"

* * *

Yuuno really wasn't sure what Yami wanted to talk about in her quarters. For the past five minutes, he had sat there in a spot across from her while she got around to charging some cartridge shells with her magic. He noted that they were made for a Revolver type system so obviously, they would belong to Rai.

After another minute, she broke the silence. "I have recently experienced an odd dream and…" Before the Lord of Darkness could continue, a knock on the door interrupted the moment causing her irritated expression to briefly return. "Just one moment…" As soon as she finished charging the last shell, she packed all the cartridges together into a small box and got up to answer the door.

She wasn't surprised to see Material-L on the other side when she opened up. "Yami-chan! You got the cartridges ready?"

"Call me 'Your Majesty'! And here are your extra cartridges. Now leave." The Hayate replica shoved the box in the other woman's hands and was about to close the door when Rai called out to her.

"Wait! I heard you were having weird thoughts lately… like, is any of this real or not?"

"Excuse me?" It was all Yami managed to get out before the Fate replica burst into song.

"When you walk away, you don't hear me say… 'PLEEEEASSE, OH BABY… don't go!' Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight! It's hard to let it-"

"GO!" Material-D wasted no time in closing the door again to cut off the singing (which Yuuno had to admit was pretty good) before returning to her spot across the Librarian. "As I was saying before I was interrupted, I have recently experienced an odd dream. It was of an old servant that I am certain had served me faithfully in the past."

"What does that have to do with me?" asked the blonde man.

"I have reason to believe that you were familiar with her."

He blinked in surprise. "Um… I don't see how. Maybe you can describe her for me…?"

She frowned as she tried to recall the dream. "I was only able to catch a glimpse of her image in my dream. She is power made flesh with black wings, long silky silver hair, red eyes…"

There was only one person who came to mind for Yuuno although he was puzzled at how she managed to get that memory. "Reinforce?"

"Yes, that's it! That's her name!" exclaimed Yami in an excited tone. "I was right, you do know her! Tell me everything you know about her!"

'I guess she must have inherited some of Hayate's memories…? But does that make any sense?'

He told her what he remembered although he didn't have a large number of details due to the events being fifteen years old and the fact that he really didn't interact with the original Reinforce much. She asked all sorts of questions and he would answer as best as he could. He talked about the Wolkenritter, the sacrifice that Reinforce made and the creation of the second Reinforce. And whenever he could, he showed her pictures from his data device about the people that Reinforce had treasured in her short time.

But when he took a moment to catch his breath after finishing his explanations, he noticed that the excited look in her emerald eyes had faded, leaving only cold rage. "Um, Your Majesty?"

In an instant, the rage had vanished (or at least been suppressed) as she turned to address him. "Thank you for telling me the truth about her, Scrya."

'She called me by my name… I guess hearing that must have meant a lot to her.' He was still a bit worried about the anger that simmered somewhere deep within Material-D.

"In any case, you can g-" She paused for a moment, causing the young man to get concerned when he spotted her eyes become a bit unfocused and lost.

"What is it?"

"… … no, it's nothing. You're dismissed."

Knowing that it would be best not to raise her ire, Yuuno took his leave while Yami connected to her device to better absorb the information. _So that's how things went, huh?_

'To die for a false queen and leave an heir that is only a shadow of herself… how demeaning. She deserved better.' She could feel Yersinia Kreuz pulsing softly as it expressed agreement.

_Indeed. If I may ask… what was the reason why you almost called him back when you already had listened to the whole story?_

'It's just that I had the feeling that there was some other business I had with him.' She knew it was somewhere nagging inside but she couldn't put a finger on it.

_If it slipped your mind, it was probably nothing of importance. In the mean time, now that we know the tale of how things came to be, the next question becomes…_

'How do we go about restoring things to the way they should be?'

* * *

'Just what was that about back there?' Yuuno stood there in the hallway for a bit, pondering just what had distracted Yami before he left.

"A scattered dream leading to a far-off memory… I wonder if she'll be able to line the pieces up between herself and the one she's searching for."

"Rai?" A quick glance showed him that the Fate replica had just made a visit to the fridge, judging by the amount of food that she was carrying. "Do you know something about what was bugging Yami?"

Material-L giggled slightly. "Whatever happens… whenever that happens, it'll probably be an epic event to remember, complete with the FMV sequence and a background song too!"

He wasn't sure what she meant but since he was here with Rai, he may as well take the opportunity to get around to some earlier business. "Do you have a moment? I guess now would be a good time as any to have that chat I promised you earlier."

"Ah, okay. I guess the event took a bit longer to trigger but I'm sure that I figured out the best responses to keep flags open!"

"… I'll take that as a yes?" muttered Yuuno to himself as he followed the blue haired woman into her quarters where Sette was lying down, appearing to be asleep. "Um, maybe we should go somewhere else so we won't disturb her?"

"Nah, it's okay! She said some stuff about doing some drills in her noggin with her book thingy before lying down. She never got bothered when I started singing or playing hacky sack with a little lightning ball." Material-L placed down the items and started looking around the treats to decide which one to devour first.

"If you're sure about that…" He took a seat on one of the chairs before trying to figure out how to best approach the subject. Then again, it wasn't like the subtle approach would work with someone like the Fate replica so he would have to be direct. "So can you tell me what happened back at the prison where you got Sette?"

"Eh… let's see. I snuck in, spooked some enemies, got a case of the munchies just as Vulnificus complained about not getting any…" A beat and then a demented giggle. "Yuu-nii just thought of something perverted, eh?"

Yuuno merely sighed. "Just keep going."

She took out a cold piece of meat from one of the boxed containers and bit into it before continuing. "Let's see… I hadn't done any level grinding in a while at the time and Vulnificus would have complained if I let it go on any further so I killed the enemies for the measly experience points. As usual, they don't drop any good items since they were regular battle encounters and it's not like we were going to visit a pawn shop in the near future to trade stuff."

"That was your reason?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Rai, this isn't a game!"

"But that's the way it is! Life's the ultimate game… and I don't even get extra credits, lives or continues if my HP goes down to zero! Not even have a bloody save point! I can't even get Vulnificus to enter in some cheat codes! I mean, I've been lucky on some occasions back when I was a scrub but it ain't gonna last forever!"

"**But if you cheat, doesn't it take away some of the experience?"** asked the device resting just above her cleavage.

"When you got no save points and no extra lives whatsoever, then of course I gotta resort to trying to cheat!" The Fate replica merely huffed. "Seriously, what psycho game designer wouldn't even leave a save point? That's just wrong!"

"**You shouldn't have anything to fear. Your rookie days are behind you and you passed the tutorial sections I designed at the start with flying colours. Now you can easily smash through any obstacles as you continue gaining power for the both of us. And speaking of power, you still have thirty more levels to go until you unlock the Tony Jay voice to use on any of my forms."**

Her red eyes lit up with delight briefly before she stopped. "Yeah but I've only been gaining two experience points per kill recently. You know how many kills I would have to get to level you up thirty more times if I keep running into the same low level fighters?"

"**Sixty-five million, three hundred and forty thousand, two hundred and eighty five. This should take us seven weeks, five days, thirteen hours and twenty minutes, giving ourselves three hours a night to sleep."**

She glumly finished off the cold meat while the Librarian beside her looked on in disbelief. "Ehhh… that won't be any fun though. Don't wanna bother with anyone who's weaker than me unless I hafta."

"**But you still need to kill to maximize my power to aid you in your quest."**

"Whoa, wait a second!" Yuuno needed to try and establish a sense of control here (and reign in that rising frustrating feeling that was bubbling up in his chest). "What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Why do you need to get power?"

"Isn't it obvious, Yuu-nii? Oh, wait… you don't have access to my mission profile so I'll tell you." She paused for a moment as her red eyes hardened. "I'm going to find mommy and then I'm going to beat her. Her power level's probably over 9,000 so I gotta keep grinding before I can trigger the boss encounter. Once I win the fight, I'm going to get the truth outta her and then hurt her as bad as she hurt me. But it ain't gonna be through regular torture and stuff since Sette-chan said I gotta keep in mind her pain tolerance or something."

'W-what's she talking about? Why is she thinking like this?' Her words greatly bothered him, allowing that frustration of his to build some more.

"Then Vulnificus said… we go after my sister. Alicia, was it? The one that mommy cared about so much? Ah well… now that I think about it, that suggestion he made back there's sounding real good," said the Fate replica with a small malicious smile. "We go get her body and then I can get Vulnificus to transform into tweezers so I can play Operation right in front of mommy! Although it's kinda strange… when you think about it, how the hell are ya gonna find a slice of bread undigested in the stomach? Weird how something like that is worth 1,000 points when ripping out the heart is only 100 points."

That did it for the Librarian. "STOP IT!"

"Hm?"

"Stop talking like that, Rai! Why do you have to cling on to such painful thoughts?" Honestly, he didn't understand all that rambling from earlier although when he heard her say Alicia, it was obvious that she inherited some aspect of Fate's memories.

For a brief moment, he saw the veil of madness dissipate just for a moment. Instead of insanity reflecting in her eyes, there was a hint of melancholy and bitterness. "… … because it's all I got. Mommy broke me in the beginning and even with Vulnificus helping; I can't keep it together for long. So before I shatter like Humpty Dumpty, I'll end the hatred that mommy put in everyone's hearts."

"W-what?"

"And then, I guess I'll go burn out brightly in the sky… like a large chicken pie! Hehehehehe!"

While she giggled in that demented fashion of hers, Yuuno felt a sensation of fear. He couldn't tell whether to be scared for where she's going in life or whether to be scared of the girl herself but he couldn't let that fear bother him. Not when there was someone leaning on the edge of madness sitting right in front of him. "Rai, why would want to burn out when you still have so much ahead in life to experience?"

She stopped her giggling before smiling sadly. "What else is there for someone like me after my mission? Drifting along, searching for endless battle and blood? I guess that's what I have to look forward to since I probably didn't trigger enough flags for a good happy ending. At least I won't lose even if I can't win."

"Don't say things like that," said Yuuno gently before motioning the Fate replica over. "Come on, let's sit down and talk."

Without a word, Material-L scooted over and eventually settled herself on his lap. Upon noticing his surprised look, she blinked. "What is it?"

"Er, nothing…" He pushed up his glasses. "You know, when you say stuff like you want to burn out, that makes me sad. It'll make Seikou and Yami sad too. You don't want to make your family sad, do you?"

"No…"

"Seikou and Yami are probably looking forward to living normal lives and if I know them well, they want you to be a part of it. They'll want to be a part of your life as well."

"You'll be there too, Yuu-nii?" asked the blue haired woman in a quiet tone.

He laughed softly. "If that's what you want, Rai. You can still get that happy ending and live a normal life without having to see blood and battle. All you have to do is stop with the… level grinding and killing. If you go on with that, you'll just create hatred in other people's hearts as well."

"That's… kinda true when you think about it. Regardless of how lame or boring they are, every character has at least one fan. Probably even that Alicia too." She paused for a minute. "But if I don't level up, then what's going to happen when I finally trigger that boss fight? And how do I rub my awesomeness in mommy's face when I win?"

"If it's someone who did indeed hurt you terribly in the past, then we'll find her and bring her to justice," said Yuuno in a firm tone while mentally pondering how Material-L would take the truth in that Precia Testarossa was no longer among the living.

Her red eyes lit up briefly. "Ooh, wait! Will this be like a total party thrashing with lots of combination attacks or will I take her one on one while you guys hold off the millions of grunt robots?"

"Uh, I guess we'll find out when we do get to that point. But either way, you won't be alone in this."

"Hehe… if anything, Sette-chan will definitely tag along if she's a proper sidekick so you're probably right there." No response came from the Combat Cyborg even though she wasn't too far away from them. "You still didn't answer my question about my proof of awesomeness."

"Maybe pick an area that she takes pride in and surpass her there?" Yuuno figured that Material-L wouldn't be able to conduct Project F activities since she definitely didn't have the smarts to work on such a complicated project.

The Fate replica pondered over this for a second before snapping her fingers. "I GOT IT! I'll be Alicia's new mommy! Once she gets better and stuff, she'll need someone to love her, teach her how to smash people in the face with a big ass sword and only show her the good porn! Someone like me! Then I can go 'neener neener neener' in front of mommy's face!"

Material-L as a parent? Now that's a disturbing thought. "Er, maybe I should help out with that. Since you'll be busy trying to adjust to a regular life once we land on my world and everything."

"Does that mean you're Yuu-nii-papa or Uncle Yuu-nii? Wait, I got it! You'll be known as Pancle Yuu-nii! Hehehe… that word needs to be added to the next galactic dictionary or something! Let's go make a detour and find those dictionary people!"

"Let's not." He already had enough of that, thank you very much.


	24. Right At The Doorstep

Yuuno's mind had been occupied by several things that evening, namely regarding Material-L. The resources that he had brought with him in the first place were originally intended to help him decipher the riddle presented in the Lost Logia case so obviously they wouldn't provide any help on how to handle a mentally ill person. Honestly, he was going to have to dig deep into his network to find a competent and trustworthy doctor to treat Rai.

He spent some time documenting a list of observations regarding the Fate replica on his laptop. From the conversation, he picked up that on some level, she was aware that she's sick and needs help. He really would like to bring out that aspect of Material-L some more. Sette should be willing to help him out with that task.

If there was one more thing that worried him, it was the device that hung around her neck. Vulnificus casually suggested killing over sixty million people for some… power up of sorts. Just how much influence did it have over her? Did the programming get corrupted because of a lack of maintenance or was it programmed from the start to be like this?

By the time he had finished accumulating all of his observations and writing out the questions that bothered him, it was well past bed time. And even then, sleep didn't come easy to him. He probably only managed three or four hours at best which was why he hadn't been super energetic the next morning when he met with Seikou to discuss bind and shield spells.

Throughout the discussion, he observed that she paid very close attention to his lecture, which was a nice feeling compared to when he ran his regular classes in the university. Of course, with her being as attentive as she was, she was able to easily detect his fatigue. "Yuuno-san, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Sorry…" He took a moment to refocus himself. "Anyways, the Split Second principle is a key component that gives you an added layer of protection so that any targets caught in binds won't be easily able to break it. But in exchange for that protection, the spell duration is reduced. In order to factor in the principle, you'll have to adjust the magical point value cost by running the original value through a Mana Matrix. This will give you the new value that you need in order to cast and maintain the spell until the shortened duration period has elapsed."

"Hm… let me try an example." The Nanoha replica started jotting down some numbers and equations, allowing Yuuno a chance to take a light break and start thinking again about the device observation from the previous evening. His eyes then spotted the slumbering blue gem form of Luciferion dangling over Seikou's cleavage which got his thoughts going.

'Could her device be just like Rai's? And what about Yami…?'

"Yuuno-san?"

He immediately looked up into the odd blue eyes of Material-S. "Er, yes?"

"… You were looking at my chest, weren't you?"

That sudden accusation caused him to get a bit flustered. "Whoa, wait a second! I was just…!"

"Yuuno-san is such a pervert," said the Starlight Destroyer with her cheeks slightly flushed. "However as someone who needed to use a physically intimate method to replenish mana earlier, I am in no position to call you out on that."

'Good grief. I just went three for three in terms of perverted accusations from the girls,' thought the young man while noting how Seikou's blush was intensifying and adding to the situation's awkwardness.

"In any case, please try to reign in those desires for the moment. At an appropriate time in the future, I will be pleased to help you indulge yourself in such activities."

'Did she just give me another invitation to…?' Yuuno was quite aware that his thoughts were starting to get off track so he spoke up to set things straight. "Uh, I'll keep that in mind. As for earlier, I was wondering something about your device."

"What about it?" asked Material-S as she returned back to her neutral state.

He considered his words carefully. If there was a possibility that there was something wrong with the device itself, he was certain that it would react negatively if he made the wrong suggestion. "Back on my world, mages get regular device upgrades and maintenance to reduce wear and tear and to maintain optimal performance. Have you been able to do the same?"

She considered the thought. "An actual full tuning? Not that I recall. We had to work hard in order to keep consuming enough magical energy to sustain our lives. Device maintenance was at the back of our minds at the time."

"I see. In that case, maybe when we finally reach my world, we can drop off your devices with a technician to get a full diagnostic and get them properly upgraded. But before we do that, I probably should know what devices you girls have so that we can be precise with our order."

Seikou paused for a moment while thinking about what he asked. "Yami has two devices that I remember: her Armed Device Yersinia Kreuz and her Storage Device, the Tome of the Void. As for me and Rai, we both use Intelligent Devices. I cannot comment on Sette's device. It looks like a Storage Device but Sette had reported being able to communicate with it telepathically. Perhaps it's another Intelligent Device?"

"Maybe the techs can…" His thoughts were interrupted by the ship shaking slightly and the computer display showing several odd characters causing him to shift back into his seat to take the control.

"What is it?"

"Just as I expected. The flight path's been altered because of the building distortion in the space-time fabric. And if what I'm reading is correct, we won't be hitting Mid although we should be a lot closer than last time…" Yuuno ran through his previous numbers. 'I guess they still aren't high enough? Just how much power do these girls have?'

"I'm sorry that we've been causing such an inconvenience," murmured Material-S in an apologetic tone.

"Ah, don't worry about it. You're not doing it on purpose. And besides, any Bureau ship that's within the vicinity will be notified of the disturbance and will make a detour to repair the damage to the space time fabric, assuming that they aren't on a top priority mission." He leaned back in his seat. "At the moment, there's nothing we can really do until we exit the dimensional jump safely in a few hours and figure out where we are. Let's get back to our earlier discussion, shall we?"

* * *

"Is this really the time to sit down for afternoon tea and cake? Not that I mind but… there's probably a mountain of paperwork that has my name on it," confessed Hayate as she entered the Senior Officer's lounge and made her way towards where the other two men were waiting for her at the table.

"Same here but if Verossa's the one who brought the treats, that means he probably made some serious progress on his work even if it's only been a few days." Chrono took a sip of his tea before muttering under his breath. "How does he do it?"

"Trade secret," replied Verossa with a little wink. "In any case, considering what I'm about to report, you may want to sit down for this one."

Hayate blinked as she seated herself. "It's that bad?"

"Well, let me explain first and then you can draw your own conclusions," said the green haired investigator while reaching for a slice of cake. "For starters, I examined the footage from the prison of the ship that was just outside the external perimeter which appeared just a few minutes before the prison rampage began. After the video got a bit of cleanup, I was able to positively identify the vessel."

With a snap of the fingers, a holographic screen appeared to display schematics of the ship in question. In that moment, Chrono leaned forward to examine the craftsmanship. "That's… a ship that originated from the Zynga Cluster?"

Verossa smiled. "Good to see that you did your homework."

"You actually managed to get information from the galactic underworld?" She knew that the investigator had connections but this was unbelievable. The Cluster was well known for being efficiently run by several organized crime families and difficult to track down even though they had a presence on several different non-administrated worlds in terms of investments and businesses. And if the recent reports were correct, they've taken an interest in Lost Logia which catapulted them to a higher degree of priority in terms of assigning investigation resources.

"It's a long story and I'm not at liberty to divulge my methods."

At that moment, Hayate and Chrono shared the same thought. 'Thought Investigation.'

"But in any case, the schematics show that a wide variety of engines can be fitted on this type of civilian vessel. Taking the worst case scenario for us, if the most advanced engine on today's current market were used on this type of ship, its maximum dimensional travel speed can probably give an LS Class warship a run for her money. And because it would have better mileage, they wouldn't need to refuel as often." He paused to pick off one of the strawberries from his cake and devour it. "Defence systems are light and last but not least, the hull's made out of standard metals."

Chrono quickly picked up on Verossa's last statement. "And with the Materials being presumed to have high magical power levels, they'll stick out on our long range sensors because they'll naturally channel a lot of magical energy which the hull won't be able to conceal."

"But that brings to mind another problem. When magic of great magnitude gathers in one area, this endangers the space time fabric and can distort sensor readings." The green haired investigator noticed Hayate's troubled face as she started putting things together. "And I presume something like that has happened?"

"In the past 48 hours alone, there have been four dimensional distortions reported. It's forced some of our forces assigned to border patrol routes to make a detour and repair the damage to the space time fabric." She brought up her own holographic display to show the changes in patrol routes. "Here are the latest stellar maps which take into account the route changes and the distortions themselves."

Admiral Harlaown leaned forward to take a closer look. "Direct routes to Mid are still covered. The ships that made the detours were covering uninhabited worlds, with the exception of Carnaaji, within our territory." He couldn't quite put his finger on this piece of the puzzle. "Are they going to try and settle on an uninhabited world and attack from that long a range?"

Verossa offered his input. "Or maybe take time to gather resources on those worlds? Although I can't see that happening since the survey reports didn't mention any noteworthy resources. And there's essentially no strategic value for those worlds."

"So we're pretty much going around in circles," grumbled the other man as he finished off his tea. "And speaking of Carnaaji… Hayate, I thought you were going to handle things with Megane and Lutecia in regards to this case. What happened?"

"I completed my end and got the sentence lifted for Lutecia but to be honest; I didn't want to be the one to force them to leave the home they built for themselves. I wanted to let them decide what they will do. Erio and Caro said in their last message that they planned to visit her so they could talk her into lending a hand with the case," replied the young woman.

"You didn't stop them?" asked Verossa.

"I figured it would be best if they all talked it out amongst themselves. Get it all out in the open. Then once they understand each other, they can confirm whether Lutecia would be able to perform to the best of her ability for a world that didn't give her a lot of happy memories."

Chrono sighed quietly. "I can't say that's the most practical approach but it's not exactly an illegal course of action. In any case, I'll go see if there's a spare squadron of troops that can be stationed on Carnaaji to give them some extra protection in case some unwanted visitors do drop in and starts up trouble."

Hayate gave a small smile upon hearing that. "Thank you, Admiral."

* * *

"As this spell is based on Serra's legacy, the spell name must be called out in the native tongue of the forgotten plane, Ulgrotha. While very powerful, it's a considerable drain on the spell caster's energy."

"I see." Yuuno had to admit that he hadn't been expecting this development. What started out as a lesson on binds and shields had turned into a discussion lasting several hours on similar spells from forgotten magic systems as old as or older than the Ancient Belka system. "I'm surprised that you have knowledge of these spells. How did you come across this?"

"I am… uncertain as to how I obtained the knowledge. I cannot recall a time during our travels when we ever had an opportunity to-"A beeping on the console interrupted Seikou's explanation and caused the young man to turn back to the control.

"We've reached the end point of this dimensional jump. Let's prepare to land on that planet ahead and then I can confirm our current bearings."

"Acknowledged," said the Nanoha replica.

Yuuno was thankful that he and Seikou managed to execute the landing procedure safely. Atmospheric re-entry wasn't something he was comfortable pulling off in an alien ship, even though he managed it once before on that previous world where the Materials saw those other Huckebein.

Still, the sight of this world lifted his spirits. He actually recognized the fresh green vegetation and the peaceful looking atmosphere. And spotting the housing structures up north during the landing sequence earlier had confirmed his hunch. Even if it wasn't quite Mid-Childa yet, it would only be a four hour trip from here to Cranagan so as far as he was concerned, he got past the difficult hurdles of the journey.

"Seikou, can you let the others know that we'll be disembarking soon?"

"Roger that."

While the Starlight Destroyer exited the cockpit, Yuuno started making a mental list of things to do. First things first would be to inform the two people that he knew were living on this planet of his arrival. _"Hello? Can you hear me?"_

The response to his telepathic call came back pretty quickly. As expected, they sounded very surprised. _"Yuuno-sensei…? Is that really you? How did you get here?" _

"_Sorry, it's a long story. But I'll tell you when I get there with my friends. Oh, and if you have chicken on you, that would be fantastic for keeping Rai occupied." _

"_Chicken? Where did that come from? Just what is going-"_

He deactivated the telepathic connection and then headed for his quarters to retrieve his things. Along the way, he saw the Fate replica easily disconnect the fridge she had stolen earlier so she could carry it with her. "Rai?"

She looked over and smiled happily. "Hi, Yuu-nii!"

"You're… taking the whole fridge?" asked the Librarian in disbelief.

"Duh! Do you think I would leave food here to waste? Think of the Starving Armenians! Or if you want an in-universe example, the Starving Orussians!" exclaimed Material-L.

"Then where are you going to get electrical power to keep stuff cold, Ms. Smarty Pants?"

Without hesitation, she picked up the electric plug and jammed it into her right ear, causing the fridge to start humming again. "Ta-dah!"

"… … you got me there." Seriously, what the hell? That was pretty freaky.

The Lightning Assailant merely giggled. "Hehehehe! Rai-chan one, Yuu-nii zero!"

He merely sighed under his breath. "You'll be okay carrying that by yourself?"

"No sweat!" Complete with the V-sign from her free hand.

"If you say so." The sound of someone else emerging from their quarters alerted him to the presence of the Lord of Darkness. "Good afternoon, Your Majesty."

Material-D acknowledged the man with a slight nod. She seemed normal enough and back in her usual calm and graceful form. No trace of that fury that he saw back when he told her the story of Reinforce. It looked like that she had been able to deal with her emotions so that was a good sign.

"Yo, Yami-chan! It'll be great to get outta this stuffy place, ne?"

The Hayate replica huffed upon hearing her subject address her in such a casual manner. "Call me 'Your Majesty'! And why are you lugging that thing around?"

"How many times do I gotta tell ya to think of the Starving Armenians?" exclaimed Material-L.

"I am not going to dignify that with an answer," grumbled Material-D. "And another thing…"

"Sorry, but I need to go get my stuff so if you'll excuse me, ladies…" Yuuno moved past the two women so that he didn't have to overhear their bickering. Once he got into his quarters, he checked to make sure that he had everything. If his memory served him right, he only brought some basic archaeological gear, some supplies, a notebook and his laptop so that should be all he had to get together.

Speaking of the notebook, he quickly jotted down a reminder to himself so he could set aside some time to figure out what to do with this ship since the original owners are dead and that the vessel had been essentially acquired through illegal means. Once that was done, he finished his clean up and joined the others outside.

* * *

"So where are we going, Yuuno-san?"

"The place is about three kilometres north of the landing site. We've been walking for about fifteen minutes so it's just a little further ahead," answered the Librarian.

"And you choose to walk rather than fly?" asked Material-D with a hint of annoyance.

"The walking distance is not too bad and I wanted to avoid flying so that there wouldn't be any disturbing of the natural wildlife in the area."

"Ah… wanted to avoid random battle encounters, hm?" Apparently, Material-L's hearing was still pretty good, even with one ear stuffed with an electric plug.

He chuckled a little. "Something like that."

"Come to think of it, Sette-chan probably could have used some more battle practice. Get some experience points and all that." The Fate replica looked over to the Combat Cyborg, who seemed to be lost in thought. "Sette-chan, what do you think?"

"I… have no comment." She hadn't been paying attention to the conversation as she had been focused on the sudden brief reaction that the microchip had a few blocks back.

"Ah, there it is!" The ladies turned to where Yuuno was pointing and saw two residential buildings up ahead. The one on the right looked like a typical multi storey house while the one of the left appeared to be more of a chalet.

"How quaint," said Material-D in a dry tone.

"Sorry if it's not as luxurious as you had expected but keep in mind that they practically built this place by themselves." They made their way up to the front door of the house on the right with Yuuno being the one to press the doorbell.

A few seconds later, the door was opened by one of the inhabitants. "Yuuno-sensei, you're… eh?"

"Sorry to drop in like this, Lutecia," said Yuuno in an apologetic tone.

"Hello," greeted Seikou in a polite tone as she bowed to the people who greeted them.

"We'll be in your care… more or less," grumbled Yami.

"And we brought some gifts! Basically, you get everything in here except the food!" exclaimed Rai before she dropped the fridge down (complete with a huge THUD) in front of a stunned Lutecia and Megane Alpine.


	25. Laughing 101

"Oh my…" The moment Megane let those words out of her mouth; her stunned expression vanished and was replaced by a different one that radiated a combination of surprise and joy. "It's very thoughtful of you to bring a gift over!"

"M-mom?" Lutecia was flabbergasted at how her mother seemed to be handling this situation. "What are you saying?"

"Well, you know how hard it is to store everything in the freezer when we have guests, especially those who like to eat healthy, over for a training trip. I certainly wouldn't complain of an extra storage unit sitting around when we need it. It could mean the difference between second and third helpings for those last dinners," said the older woman, her serene smile still perfectly in place.

"I… uh… wha…?" How was it that her mother remained perfectly calm in this weirdness?

While the younger girl tried to figure out what to say exactly in this scenario, Megane turned back to the guests in front of her. "I thank you kindly for the gift, Miss…?"

"I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the bubble gum that sticks in that long purple hair… and ooh, it looks so silky! What shampoo do you use?" Material-L moved in closer to Lutecia and started stroking the younger girl's purple hair, much to her discomfort. "Ahhh… so smooth…"

"Rai, stop it. You're invading her personal space," said Yuuno in a slightly weary tone.

"Okay, Yuu-nii! Oh, right… lemme finish my intro." The Lightning Assailant cleared her throat while putting some distance from the mother daughter duo so she could do some posing too. "I am Material-L! But you can call me Rai-chan!"

"I am the Lord of Darkness, Material-D. You are only to address me as 'Your Majesty'," said the Hayate replica in a strict tone while hiding the bottom portion of her face with that fan of hers.

"If you want to make it easier for you to remember, just call her Yami-chan!" piped up Rai much to the other's annoyance.

"And I am Material-S, the Starlight Destroyer. You can call me by the name 'Seikou'," said the Nanoha replica with a slight bow.

"Hey, don't forget about Sette-chan!" Rai bounced back before she grabbed her sidekick's arm and shoved her to the front, giving Lutecia a brief shock on seeing one of Jail's Numbers here and now.

"You…?"

"Greetings, Lady Lutecia. It is…" Sette paused for a moment. "… welcoming to see you in good health."

"You two know each other?" asked Yami.

"We are old acquaintances. That is all there is to it." It was a short answer and the only one that the Combat Cyborg would give.

"I see. Well, since you introduced yourselves, allow me to return the favour. I am Megane Alpine and this is my daughter, Lutecia. I bid you welcome to this house. As guests, the only thing that I ask is for no violence or dangerous horseplay takes place on the premises."

"Your conditions are acceptable," said Seikou with a nod.

"Splendid! I admit that I wasn't expecting any guests for the evening so it'll be some time before I have a fully cooked meal ready for this many people. So perhaps you all can take a soak in the hot springs and if you wish, you can also explore the compound until dinner is ready!" Megane turned to her daughter, who seemed to be in a much calmer state. "Lutecia, can you take our guests over to the springs? I believe Garyu has finished his cleaning by now."

"Uh… sure thing, Mom."

"Megane-san, if you don't mind, I need to make some calls first to let the others know that I'm fine. They've probably been pretty worried about me when I didn't get a chance to check in earlier," said the Librarian.

"Of course. The communication window is by the fireplace down the hall and to your left."

"Oh, wait! Where can I put this?" asked Material-L as she pointed back to the fridge she had brought.

"If I were to add a new fridge, I do want to keep it near the freezer and have it share the same power source. Can you bring it this way?"

As Megane directed Material-L, Lutecia simply stared in amazement at how well her mother maintained control of the situation. Then again, she was a former TSAB investigator. Dealing with weird and dangerous people was probably just another day in the office back in her time.

It took some careful moving of the furniture to make space for the fridge but eventually, a place was found for it. "That works just fine. Thank you!" said the older Alpine woman.

"So… uh, let me lead you all to the changing area. We got some towels there. You can put your dirty clothes in the basket in the right hand corner so I can do the laundry," said Lutecia.

The three Materials started to follow the younger girl before Rai noticed that Sette wasn't with them. She turned back to see the taller woman head down the other hallway. "Sette-chan? Where are you going?"

"I have some business to look into and will require Yuuno's help once he has finished making his calls. Excuse me." She bowed once before taking her leave.

"What is she talking about?" asked Material-L in puzzlement.

"It means no opportunity for our Majesty here to confirm whether Sette's bust size is as big as hers," commented Seikou in her usual deadpan tone and a well concealed smirk.

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

Garyu took a moment to survey the work that he had completed to keep the hot spring in tip top shape. The surrounding areas have been properly hosed after the mineral cleaning fluids had been applied. And the source of the spring's warm waters has been properly inspected and the temperatures adjusted.

A satisfied click began to emit from the insect warrior's throat…

"WOW! A real Kamen Rider!"

… And was promptly halted the minute he heard an excited female voice. "… … ?"

It didn't take him long to track the source of the voice as a towel clad grinning young lady, who looked rather similar to a guest that the Mistress had in the past, came out of the changing rooms to get a closer look at him.

"Hey, c'mon, c'mon! Show me your moves! Rider Chop and Rider Kick! Ah, those are probably top tier special moves with crazy invincibility frames and stuff!" The strange woman then moved in a bit closer with that same odd grin on her face. "But I betcha it can't beat out a Shoryuken!"

"Rai, you shouldn't bother him," said another towel clad young woman with short hair who emerged from the same changing rooms. "Um… is that the proper reference for your friend, Miss Lutecia?"

He heard his Mistress respond. "He's actually my active summon who also works as a bodyguard around here. So don't mess around…"

"Or he'll mess us up with a Rider Chop?" asked that strange long haired woman.

"Sure, something like that." The head of his Mistress popped out of the changing room as well. "Garyu, we have some guests. Let's do our best to give them our star treatment, okay?"

He merely responded with his left hand giving a thumb up. It would be best to do his duties as best as he could and not to think about the weird sight he had just witnessed. And at the moment, these guests did not seem to be a threat to his Mistress or the Mother but he would be keeping a very close eye on them since the Mistress seemed to be somewhat uncomfortable in the presence of these guests.

Back in the change room, Lutecia began sorting out the laundry that needed to be done. The red cheongsam, the green dress and the purple leather had obviously been worn for some time without washing so a stronger washing cycle would be needed which should take about eighty minutes. She hoped that her guests would take a lengthy bath so it would give her time to clean these clothes properly and time to plan her next move.

Right now, she was highly concerned about how someone like Yuuno-sensei could get involved with these dangerous women. It didn't make any sense from what she knew about him and her own interactions with the Librarian when he had helped her in obtaining interesting reading materials to fill her personal library. If it hadn't been for his efforts in getting her books, she probably wouldn't have been able to learn how to build devices on her own or get involved in design work.

She shook her head and pushed aside her concerns for the moment so she could think. 'Let's see… if I give them the full treatment, they'll let their guard down. Maybe I can get the Bureau to send up a transport but disguise it as a luxury car to take them straight to a holding cell in Mid? I should tell them to disguise the limiters as fancy bracelets so they can put it on without thinking about it.'

The thought made her grin as she poured in the laundry detergent. If things worked out smoothly, she would be recognized for helping bring in some of the most dangerous criminals in the history of the Bureau. Her previous criminal record would be quashed undoubtedly. She could probably get rich and famous! Resort Alpine would be known as being a super awesome resort that got the most hardcore dangerous criminals to chill out!

"That's it…! That's how I'll do it! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"You…"

Lutecia froze as she heard the low menacing voice of Material-D coming from the left. 'Crap! Did she read my mind? This is bad!'

Despite being clad in only a towel, the posturing and that scowl on her face allowed her to look intimidating. The younger girl wasn't sure what type of magic Yami had at her disposal but right now, she was probably at a disadvantage since her magic is primarily for supporting others with her only offensive options being a shooting spell and her summons. And since those had a bit of start up time, Yami could probably blast her in a nanosecond.

While Lutecia panicked mentally on what to do, the Lord of Darkness merely approached her until she was inches away. And then she said the last words that the younger Alpine had been expecting.

"You're doing it wrong."

"… …huh?"

Material-D immediately began her lecture. "When you laugh like a noble, it should come from the gut! Take in the maximum amount of oxygen and then let it out to let the world know that 'YES! I am amused by what my enemies are doing! YES! I will easily crush them while taking fifteen minutes for tea time!' **OHHHHHHH-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-hoooo!**"

'S-scary…' That was the only thought that ran through Lutecia's head until Yami stopped her laughing.

"Now you try it."

That was rather difficult to do, especially due to the fact that she was rather jittery. "Um… oh-ho-ho-ho!"

"LOUDER!"

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!"

"ONCE MORE WITH FEELING!" commanded Material-D.

'This is the worst!' cried Lutecia mentally as she continued laughing her heart out.

* * *

"… and so I should be back in the capital city by around 4 PM, Cranagan time. Anyways, I hope to see you again real soon and I'm sorry for making you worry about me, Arf!"

With a light sigh, Yuuno disconnected the call and checked off the familiar from his list of contacts to update. He had been placing calls to every single one of his friends on his contact list for the past ten minutes or so after agreeing with Sette to help her on a particular task regarding an odd reaction from a microchip. So far, nobody's been picking up.

Of course with the seven hour time difference between Carnaaji and Cranagan, they would all be at their jobs, dealing with their usual Bureau morning duties. So all he could do was leave messages on their answering machines to let them know that he was fine and currently with the Alpines and that he should be back on Mid soon. He also made sure to apologize for worrying them all.

Strangely enough, he couldn't even get a hold of any staff member at the Infinity Library. Was it really that busy over there? It's still too early for the majority of university students to start holding long study sessions or getting reading materials for their academic papers. The only other explanation is another big information request from the Brass on some new major case.

'Well, if they want to get a hold of me, they know what to do.' It looked like that he was all wrapped up here but before he could step away from the communication window; he heard the chime of an incoming call. He quickly accepted the call and saw the rather anxious expression on the face of Chrono Harlaown.

"_Yuuno, is that really you? Thank the Kaiser…!"_

The Librarian noted the type of expression that his friend had used at the end. He must have been worried sick for a while. "Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to report in earlier. I actually had a chance when we made a stop a while ago on Ruwella and-"

He was cut off by the Admiral on the other end. _"Say no more, Yuuno. It was probably too risky for you at the time but what matters is that you're safe now."_

Yuuno blinked in surprise upon hearing what Chrono just said. "Too risky?" After a moment to think about it, he realized that the Admiral must be referring to the mana exhaustion condition that Seikou and Yami had at the time. "How did you know about that?"

_"It's pretty obvious when you're the prisoner of three insane and highly dangerous mages._

"Wait a second! Where did you get the idea that I'm a prisoner?" asked the Librarian upon realizing that his friend was referring to something else.

"_You… aren't?"_

"No, I'm not. I consider the three of them as good friends since they've all treated me pretty well for the most part. Okay, I admit that they can be rather weird but they're nice girls once you get to know them!" Just as soon as Yuuno finished saying that, a dreadful laugh echoed throughout the household.

"**OHHHHHHH-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-hoooo!"**

"_Just what was that?"_ asked Chrono from the other side.

"Oh, that's just Yami letting it out and enjoying herself." Since he had spent quite some time around her, he recognized that prideful tone anywhere. Even when laughing heartily.

"… … _and that doesn't sound like the laugh of an Evil Empress to you?"_

Yuuno chuckled nervously. "I guess I can't argue that. And her Majesty does have that image-"

"_Ferret boy, she looked like someone who would lead an army against us to ensure our destruction… or at the very least the destruction of our top officers to cripple the Bureau!"_

Seriously, his friend was just being too much here. "Chrono, you're overreacting! She's actually a fairly reasonable person most of the time! Sheesh, next thing you're going to suggest is that she runs skanky websites to inspire loyalty and obedience in her Legions of Terror like **www(dot)EvilEmpress'(dot)budoir(dot)live(dot)com** or ******www(dot)EvilEmpress'(dot)pit-of-despair(dot)live(dot)com**!"

There was a moment of silence before Chrono seemed to calm down, although he still looked somewhat distracted. _"So right now, you're at the Alpine residence with… your friends?"_

The other man nodded. "That's correct."

"_Okay. Hang tight. I'll send over a security detail to escort you all back to Cranagan."_

"Don't forget to bring some extra limiters! Their high magical point values really kept throwing our flight paths off! And tell the others that I'll be back soon! I left messages earlier for Nanoha and the rest but it may be easier if you told them that I'm fine and stuff."

Chrono paused for a moment while taking in this new information. _"No problem, I can do that and arrange for limiters. Just how high are those magical point values?"_

Yuuno thought about it. "I don't have a precise number. My guess is that the Materials are at least one rank higher than their counterparts."

Once again, there was that distracted look but he managed to slip back to his usual neutral face. _"That's good to know. Just hold your position and I'll get some of my people to bring you back home."_

"Thanks, Chrono."

"_Stay safe."_

* * *

The Admiral leaned back in his office chair on board the _Claudia_ after ending the transmission, taking a moment to calm his nerves while he ran over the information that he had managed to learn. The good news was that Yuuno was alive and well. And now he has information of the location for the Librarian along with the Materials. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the only good news.

Yuuno had been mentally compromised in some fashion which deeply disturbed Chrono. At the minimum, he was betting that his friend had Stockholm syndrome since he did talk about getting some degree of kind treatment by his captors. The worst possible scenario is that Yuuno is now a sleeper agent of sorts and the moment he got back into Mid, he would probably inadvertently spill all sorts of secrets and other information from the Infinity Library back to his captors. There was no doubt in Chrono's mind that Yuuno would make for an excellent target due to his security clearance and access to sensitive data.

And the bad news doesn't stop there. If what Yuuno told him was true, then the Materials would be able to overpower their strongest mages in a prolonged fight. Of course, maybe it was the brainwashing talking to give out false info and cause panic on the Bureau side. One way or the other, it was best to assume the worst case scenario and work from there.

Regarding the brainwashing, Shamal would have to do a proper diagnostic once they got him back. First, he would have to get in touch with everyone who received a message from Yuuno and inform them to stay calm and vigilant while he handled things to get their friend back safe and sound. Chrono pondered whether that will stop Nanoha. After giving it some thought, he decided to lock down her ability to board an interdimensional transport in the event that she gets a brilliant idea to head straight for the Alpine residence and force a confrontation.

He quickly got back to his workstation so he could start issuing orders. There was much to do and little time to do it.


	26. The Doctor's Secret Stash

While Sette waited for Yuuno to finish with his calls, she found herself roaming about the Alpine household. It was rather light on technology, with only the essential machinery taking up space among the hallways. Perhaps Lady Lutecia wanted to live in such a simple manner after living and working in the Doctor's laboratory during the early years of her life.

She soon found herself near the kitchen where she could hear some activity from the inside. Her sense of smell was picking up some light aromas which meant Miss Megane must have already started her dinner preparations. The Combat Cyborg was able to recognize a few of those aromas due to her previous experience working in the prison kitchens while serving her sentence.

"Who's there?"

'That woman has sharp senses… I barely made a sound walking on those tiles.' Sette came out into the open so the elder Alpine could see her.

"Ah, it's just you. Is there something you need? I'm rather busy getting dinner started." She moved about the area, gathering dishes and ingredients.

"I'm just waiting for Yuuno to finish his calls so we can investigate something I found of interest. In the meantime, I can offer some assistance," replied Sette.

This got Megane's attention. "You can cook?"

"I am competent in terms of food preparation. One of my supervisors did wish at times that I added a bit more 'soul' into the ingredients. I was rather puzzled by that remark."

The other woman laughed gently. "Don't worry about it. Since you volunteered, would you mind helping prepare the paste? I'll need it for later when I start grilling the chicken."

"Chicken?"

"Well, he suggested a bit earlier that one of your friends liked chicken so I thought that I should have this on tonight's menu."

"I see. In that case, mission accepted." Sette moved to the sink to wash her hands.

Megane laughed again. "It's not a mission."

The Combat Cyborg opted not to reply as she finished her hand washing and headed towards the stack of garlic, ginger and other herbs. With a borrowed kitchen knife in hand, she began dicing the items while the other woman worked behind her. They worked in silence until the purple haired woman asked another question.

"Were you glad to see Lu-chan again, Sette?"

The chopping noises coming from Sette's end stopped for a moment. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you two were old acquaintances as you put it," said Megane as she continued slicing up the chicken into smaller pieces for grilling.

"We were not closely associated if that is what you were wondering. I believe we have only interacted once when I checked on her to ensure that she would be in optimal condition to execute our mission," said the pink haired woman as she resumed chopping.

"She did tell me that you were rather up front about that. That just means you're honest. I'm glad that I was able to confirm that."

"Please explain." Sette paused again, this time to reach for an electronic blender.

"I was hoping to hear your perspective on our guests. They seem rather… different compared to their media portrayal."

"The Materials? What information are you seeking about them?"

Megane put away the chicken before she got out some mixing bowls to prepare her pasta dough. "I'm uncertain. The impression given by the mass media proclaims them as dangerous criminal mages. However, my instincts are telling me that things are not what they seem to be when it comes to those girls."

Sette slowly poured in the diced ingredients into the blender. "You are correct in that regard. My own experiences with the Materials are somewhat limited as I have only been in their company for a few days but I have no reason to believe that they are criminals by nature."

"Is that so? Do you have any evidence to support your view?"

The taller woman didn't get a chance to answer as Yuuno popped into the kitchen. "Sette, I've finished up with my calls."

"Thank you. Just give me a moment to finish up here and then I will take you to where the reaction occurred." The paste was now ready to be made with just a push of a button now that all the contents were inside the blender's container. Satisfied that the mission of preparing the paste had been completed, Sette turned to the other purple haired woman. "I must take my leave but when I return from my survey, we can resume our conversation."

Megane smiled. "That would be lovely. Take care you two! And be back by seven!"

"I assure you that we should be back by the designated time," said the Combat Cyborg before she departed the kitchen with Yuuno.

* * *

Friedrich woke up to the sound of his two closest human companions… acting a bit oddly. Sure, he had seen them act weird around each other before and get all red and fidgety and nervous. But something else was causing this type of nervousness.

His pink haired mistress seemed most distressed. "Is this for real, Erio-kun?"

"These came over an encrypted channel and straight from Admiral Harlaown himself," replied the red haired male as his watch displayed a message just freshly received only five minutes ago. "He just got called by Yuuno not too long ago and got the information direct."

"Then Lu-chan…!"

"She's okay for now, Caro. At the moment, those Materials think that she's the simple daughter of the inn's owner so as long as she doesn't tip herself off, she should be fine. The tough part is extracting Yuuno safely away from them without tipping off our presence." The young man frowned. "The Admiral also mentioned something about possible brainwashing and advised us to knock him out so that he doesn't risk blowing our cover if he encounters us."

"Knock him out? With what?"

Erio saw an extra note at the bottom of the set of orders. "The Admiral suggested using ferret tranquilizer."

"… … what?" Honestly, she didn't understand that Admiral at times.

* * *

"So where did that peon go?" asked Material-D while she cooled herself down with her fan.

"Yuuno-san said that Sette requested his assistance in investigating some sensor distortion outside," said Material-S, recalling the brief telepathic conversation they had after she had exited the bath with her sisters twenty minutes ago. "They should be able to return by dinner time."

"Oi, we should be paying attention to Ms. Tour Guide over here. If we can't answer the end of tour quiz, we won't get extra dessert!" exclaimed Material-L.

"Extra dessert? Did my mom promise you that?" Lutecia had to fight the urge to moan at the unfairness of that arrangement. She had to pull a lot of weight around the house just to earn her extra dessert!

"Oh yeah! Peanut buster parfait, here I come!"

She merely sighed once before resuming the tour of her resort. "Over here is a training stage and obstacle course for anyone who wants a physical or magical workout. There's a lot of space to move around so you can have a good solid practice session."

While Lutecia continued to lead them around, she started taking note of her current situation. Right now, Garyu was back at the springs doing another quick cleaning so that meant that she was more or less alone with the trio. Of course, he would be able to arrive at her side within seconds if she willed it and she figured that she should be able to do okay by herself long enough for him to get here. And her mother is still quick on her feet for a woman of her age. If things start heating up, she would be able to get out of the danger zone quickly.

Seikou raised an eyebrow in mild fascination. "You built this yourself?"

"Of course! It took a lot of work but this obstacle course is guaranteed to get your heart pounding and your sweat glands to go into overdrive! Bwahaha-" Lutecia suddenly stopped upon noticing Yami's glare and switched up her laugh to the other one that she recently learned courtesy of the Lord of Darkness. "Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!"

"It's like a big jungle gym! Hehehehe!"

"Eh?" A quick glance showed that Rai was bouncing around the area without even feeling any sort of strain. She was wearing that tight leather purple bodysuit which wasn't ideal workout attire and yet, she was moving around the course with ease. "I… wha…? I mean… wow?"

"You don't sound too happy," noted the Starlight Destroyer.

"Well, it stings a bit when you see someone easily master an obstacle course the first time around. Especially one that I built," grumbled Lutecia.

The Fate replica paused for a moment while balancing her feet on a thin rail. "Hey! Why don't I let Kero-chan out here to play?"

Seikou thought about it before shaking her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. Our hosts probably wouldn't appreciate Cerberus running around unchecked. Plus Cerberus is the type of summon who would prefer to be doing something useful. He didn't look too happy when you called him just to learn how to roll over."

"My lesson plan didn't include just rolling over! There was also the fetching lessons and how to look like a realistic corpse to play dead!" shouted back Rai.

"Is the reason why you want to summon Cerberus right now is so you can have a playmate?"

"I guess so. I mean, it's gonna be boring until dinner time comes," said Material-L as she flipped over to another railing in a carefree fashion.

"If that's the case, how about I play tag with you instead?" asked the Nanoha replica.

"Yay! Oh, wait…" The blue haired woman frowned. "You're normally a slow poke compared to me so how are you gonna catch me when you're the oni?"

"Just let me worry about that," replied Seikou.

"You don't mind keeping her occupied?" asked Yami from behind that fan of hers.

The red clad Material-S looked at her friend. "Someone has to make sure she doesn't wind up in trouble. Besides, I can use this opportunity to practice some other skills I had not used in some time."

This earned a slight shrug from the Hayate replica. "Do as you like then."

"So that means you two will stay here for the time being? If that's the case, I'll swing by to escort you to the dining room later when dinner's ready."

"I would appreciate that very much, Ms. Lutecia," said the Starlight Destroyer as she bowed politely.

"Since that's settled, I guess you're sticking with me." The younger Alpine did send a mental note to Garyu to stay within the vicinity of the training area to keep an eye on the two of them. While Lutecia took her leave with Yami, Seikou activated her device and her Barrier Jacket and turned to the Fate replica.

"Let's go all out and work up a good appetite. What do you say to that, Rai-chan?"

Alrighty then…!" After calling forth Vulnificus and her own Barrier Jacket, she started moving back quickly. "Catch me if you can, you Red Oni!"

Seikou merely channelled magical energy into her feet, causing red particles to glow around the boots. "Accel Turn!"

It has been some time since she worked with that type of support magic. Hopefully, this session would allow her to feel more comfortable working with her speed spells again.

* * *

"This is my library. It's well stocked with all sorts of books of interest."

Material-D snorted while her eyes darted from bookshelf to bookshelf. "Books of interest? You mean full of romance trash that has no bearing in reality?"

Lutecia raised an eyebrow. "What would you define as romance trash?"

"Like how a red string of fate binds two people who previously never met or had any sort of interpersonal connection. Then boom, they're declaring each other as soul mates or some trash like that," said Yami.

"If that's the case, then you can rest easy. That type of literature has no place on my bookshelves as I have more sophisticated reading preferences."

"So you don't find any interest in a story that features a pairing which has one member of the couple being aware of emotion beyond friendship in her significant other even at the age of six years old?"

The younger Alpine merely twitched. "I really have no idea what you're trying to find but I assure you that I would just find that concept implausible, as well as disturbing. Now will you need any help finding what you want to read here? Because I have other matters to attend to since this place won't maintain itself."

"Fair enough. You're dismissed." While Lutecia slipped away (not before leaving a few insect summons to act as surveillance), the Hayate replica shuffled off to the nearest bookshelf to explore what her host did place on the shelves. She noted that a number of titles were history books which covered different eras of Ancient Belka. For a moment, she wasn't sure where to begin until she saw a particular object that seemed to be out of place.

It was some sort of electronic data storage module. Small, rectangular… and labelled as 'Land Combat Exhibition MC 0078: Team Blue (Yagami family) vs. Team Red (Takamachi family and friends).'

At that moment, all thoughts of passing the time by reading vanished from her mind. She had something more interesting to look into.

* * *

It had been a rather quiet stroll for Yuuno and Sette when they went back along the route they originally took to reach the Alpine residence. For the Librarian, he was uncertain what the Combat Cyborg had detected earlier but it must be of high importance. In fact, all this time, she had been holding out a small microchip in the open in order to try and retrace the incident.

It finally started beeping faintly after they reached a certain distance. "Over here."

"So what am I looking for?" asked Yuuno as he took out some of his gear to help get more precise scans of the area.

"The chip I have here was given to me by Uno prior to my abrupt departure from the Orbit Prison. She claimed that it would be triggered when close to the Doctor's backup laboratory on Mid-Childa however it has responded to something else in the area. My conclusion is that there is something else of the Doctor's that is located in the vicinity," replied Sette.

Yuuno had to admit that it was plausible that Scaglietti had been here before to set up contingency resources. This world had been uninhabited and was within somewhat close distance of Mid-Childa. "Do you have any idea what he could have stashed here?"

She shook her head. "Negative. I most likely didn't have the proper clearance to authorize such information. If anyone would know, it would be my older sisters."

"Well, let's see what I can pick up. After all, it's the reason why you asked me to come out here." Years of working on archaeological sites have helped him develop a keen eye.

"It's one reason, yes."

He easily picked up the hint that she had called him out here for something else. "Then what's your other reason?"

"I had wanted to discuss some things with you in private. In particular, the type of behaviour exhibited by Vulnificus earlier."

He blinked in surprise. "Rai's device? How did you know it was acting oddly?"

"You were speaking with Material-L earlier and her device had commented on killing over sixty five million mages to 'level her up'. I was able to listen in on the conversation even when in my training state," said the pink haired woman while staying close to Yuuno so that she could see his scanning progress.

"I see." It was something that Nanoha did frequently when she first got Raising Heart all those years ago so Yuuno could understand.

"In a sense, Vulnificus may very well be something like a…" Sette paused for a second.

"What is it?"

"… … Nox Nyctores. Perhaps you may know something about what it means."

There was something exotic and foreboding about the term that Yuuno couldn't put his finger on. "I can't really recall if I heard something like that before when working in the Library. Where did you hear it from?"

"It's a foreign term that my device has used to describe a different class of device in the Arc System."

"I never heard of such a place," admitted the Librarian. "Was this another lost realm like Al-Hazard?"

She paused for a moment along the muddy path. "It was apparently a galaxy far, far away that existed eons ago. My own device has limited memories of that particular sector of space but he clearly remembers the type of weapons that were used in that era. Those devices were apparently able to manipulate cause and effect for combat purposes. In addition, they have displayed similar attributes of influencing their user although to what extent, I cannot tell."

'Is that the reason behind the gap in power between the Materials and the others? And not just that… if their devices have been doing that from the start, it's no wonder that the three of them don't exactly have a normal state of mind.' He tried to get his concentration back on track but his head was trying to wrap around the concept of devices that could use causality as a form of weapon. How were they constructed? What type of damage were they capable of?

"Ah, it seems you picked up something," said Sette in that neutral tone of hers as his attention turned back to his instrument. Sure enough, there were faint traces of foreign materials that didn't belong in this eco-system up ahead by four hundred metres. But his eyes weren't seeing anything out of the ordinary. Just a natural looking pond along in a grassy field.

"I don't see anything here." He paused for a moment. "Unless it's under some sort of invisibility cloak…"

"That's highly probable. The Doctor has some expertise in camouflage technology since he created the Silver Cape for Quattro's use."

"Then we're at a dead end if we can't see it."

"That won't be a problem." For a brief second, the colour of Sette's eyes changed several times as she went through the electromagnetic spectrum. "Location has been confirmed."

She took a few steps forward towards the pond and carefully examined one of the rocks before finding what she was looking for and inserting the microchip into the opening. Within moments, the water in the pond was drained away, revealing an access hatch and a keypad entry terminal.

Yuuno gave a gasp of surprise. "This is…"

Sette's expression didn't change although her mind was now pondering just what exactly the Doctor could have set up on this quiet world.


	27. Knockout by Dragon Headbutt

"W-what… what is…?"

Sette paused for a moment to notice the rather odd reaction her companion is having. "What is it, Yuuno?"

"That security keypad… it's a Tazmo 590 model!" exclaimed the Librarian. Upon noticing the Combat Cyborg's puzzled look, he went on to explain. "It's part of a sophisticated security system that was created nine years ago for the Bureau's use only."

"And it responded to the Doctor's microchip which means…"

Yuuno found himself getting disturbed as his mind worked out a possible implication. There was a possibility that the Bureau and Scaglietti had worked together at one point before the Doctor went rogue. But to what extent? And who in the Bureau had enough political influence and power to keep this relationship a secret?

It took him a while to steady his nerves. "We need to get access through that door somehow. But if we're dealing with that type of security system, then we'll have to be careful."

"Explain."

"Access passwords for this type of system are in the form of a five digit number combination. We only have three tries to get it right. If we fail on the third attempt, we'll get locked out and the security system would only accept an input from an authorized administrator. Breaking and entering won't do any good since the security system has a lot of counter measures against anyone who uses magic."

"Are they strong enough to hold off someone like Material-L?" Honestly, it may be simpler just to bring her out and convince her that there's treasure in that 'dungeon' so she could bulldoze her way through.

"There's a chance that she could cause damage to the inner chamber if she forces her way in," replied Yuuno firmly. "I want everything intact if I'm going to pull off a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of things."

Sette thought about it for a moment before summoning the Blue Book which hovered over her open hand. "Your assistance please…"

"_**Forzare."**_ A few pages flipped over before a program began to run with a sequence of five phantom numbers running rapidly over the open pages.

"My device estimates that it will take eighty four minutes to determine the code," said Sette.

"That long? That's past the dinner time curfew," noted the young man.

"If you wish to gain entry, then I must remain here to run the program and decipher the password."

Before he could protest, his scanner beeped a few times to catch his attention. "Now what?"

"My long range internal sensors have picked up another space vessel engaging in atmospheric re-entry," said the pink haired Combat Cyborg. "I presume your own scanner has picked up the same."

"Yeah. I better go find out who it is and see if they need any help." At this time of year, he hardly expected anyone to make a visit to this quiet little planet. "I'll be back as soon as possible. In the meantime, please keep me informed of your findings."

"Affirmative."

Satisfied with Sette's reply, Yuuno headed off to track down the ship that just descended.

* * *

_They make a good team._

'They don't even observe the proper protocol between Knight and Master.' That was Yami's response to the comment from her device as she continued watching the footage in front of her. It had yielded valuable data on her enemy's capabilities, even though she couldn't fully determine the full capacity of Yagami's spells due to the battle being a training one rather than a real one. And of course, the video was two years old which raised the possibility of this combat data being out of date.

The Material-S and Material-L doppelgangers were also of interest. In particular, both counterparts wielded superior devices with the different modes that were showcased during the match. And there were those separate attack drones summoned by that white clad bug. But Material-D wasn't bothered by that. As far as she was concerned, their devices would not be enough to catch up with her servants when it came to ability and skill.

_And who would have thought that they would be in possession of not one but two Unison Devices?_

'Hmph…' Her left fingers tapped against the coffee table's surface next to her seat, a sign that she was in deep thought. 'The red haired device recognizes the General of the Raging Fire as her Master. Once I have reclaimed the Knight of the Sword along with the rest, the device will have no choice but to follow.'

_Oh, really? Are you confident that you can reclaim the Wolkenritter? They seem to be content with their current Master. And she appears to be competent enough to command their respect and loyalty._

'Obviously, their definition of a competent Master has degraded over the years.' Not that she could blame them. It must have been hell for them to serve incompetent masters over the years, their pride diminishing further upon each summoning. 'I simply need to demonstrate that I satisfy the standards of being a true Master.'

The pendant form of Yersinia Kreuz pulsed softly before addressing Yami again. _Then there's the other Unison Device. The one who has inherited the name of Reinforce._

'That is not Reinforce!' The Hayate replica flared up for a brief moment, sending a small surge of mana through her left finger tips to damage the surface of the coffee table.

_Did you not acknowledge her as the heir when you first heard Scrya tell his tale?_

'Obviously, my initial impression was too generous. That is nothing more than a child who does not deserve that name!'

_So what will you do with that little one?_

'I have something in mind.' She managed to shake off that earlier loss of emotional control. 'Rest assured that she is still useful to me.'

_I see you have it all figured out…_

Material-D couldn't help but smirk upon hearing her device say that. 'Naturally. Just who do you think I am?'

* * *

"So basically, we don't have a plan," confirmed Caro in a slow tone just as she felt the ship's landing struts settle on the planet's firm soil.

"Nope." A simple response from her red haired, male partner.

"Ku ku!" came the chirping of little Friedrich.

She sighed once as she rubbed her nose. How were they supposed to go about trying to extract Yuuno safely from dangerous clones of their old trainers? She didn't have any tranquilizer on her (ferret or otherwise) since she hadn't exactly been expecting to try and conduct a rescue mission when returning to Bureau HQ on the first administrated world. "Maybe we can convince them all that we're the ones taking them back?"

"We would have to hide our Bureau affiliation," commented Erio as he thought about this some more. "The intelligence suggested that those Materials were hostile to anyone associated with the Bureau. We should change into some casual clothing. Then we can pass off as friends dropping in to visit the Alpine place."

"Good idea. Let me get changed first…" Although when Caro looked around, there didn't seem to be a lot of room at the back of the ship, considering how much space their luggage took. "Oh, dear…"

"You may have to go outside where there's more space," suggested the red head.

"Erio, I'm not…!" Caro's cheeks turned a rather healthy shade of red. "What if someone sees me?"

"Like who? Everyone's that accounted for is already staying at the Alpine's home. The ship's cameras are deactivated when the pilot shut down the engine and we've landed in the middle of a tall grass prairie ecosystem. Nobody should be able to see you unless you draw attention to yourself."

"B-but…!"

"I'll be there with our pilot to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Besides, it shouldn't take you too long to change into something less formal. And in the case that someone does drop by to get a peep, Fried here will butt them in the head!" finished Erio as he patted the dragon's head once.

"KU!"

Well, if he was certain that things would be okay, there was no harm in just getting this over with. "… alright, I get it. Just give me a few minutes."

"If you need anything, just yell. I'll be at the helm." The taller male headed to the cockpit area while his partner started to look through her bags to find something to change into. As soon as he entered, he heard an amused snort come from the pilot.

"Me try anything stupid…? Geez, like I would do that. Especially when she's your girl."

Erio paused for a moment, long enough to keep himself from sputtering. "We're not like that."

"Yeah, right!" The other man leaned back in his seat. "So what is it about her that catches yer eye? That pink hair? That perkiness of hers? I know it can't be her bust since it's really not very noticeable."

"I… have no comment." Erio decided that it was best to play it safe, just in case Caro overheard their conversation.

"Come on. Just between us guys here. What is it about her that you like?"

"… … I like that she's short."

The other man tried to say something but couldn't quite formulate a response other than repeating what the younger male said. "You like that she's short?"

"It makes it easier for me to hold her close to me so I can protect her as her sword and shield," replied Erio softly.

"… … that's something I never really thought of. But that can't be everything. Is there something else?"

The redhead never had the chance to think it much further as he heard a pair of surprised yelps along with Friedrich going "KUUUUUUUUUU!" outside. Then came a crash… and then silence.

It was enough for the two men to scramble out of the cockpit area and head outside. "Caro!"

The pink haired girl had already changed into her casual wear although she had a few buttons on her top left undone which allowed for a glimpse at the pink bra underneath. Erio forced himself to look away and kept his focus on the sprawled and dizzied Friedrich and the unconscious, green dressed man close by.

"Oi, what happened? Who's that green girly looking guy?" asked the pilot.

"That's him! That's Mr. Scrya!" exclaimed Caro. "He startled me when he came out of the tall grass and Fried attacked him with a head butt to knock him out cold!"

"Uh… huh?" Erio could hardly believe this. Seriously, what were the odds of their rescue target just popping out here in the middle of nowhere? "In any case, let's just move him to the back of the ship first and figure out how to handle things from there."

"I'll check on Fried first," said the Dragon Summoner as she moved over to the dizzied dragon.

"Guess I better help with moving this guy," grunted the older pilot as he took up the right arm of Yuuno Scrya while Erio took the left. As they dragged the knocked out Librarian back to their vessel, the pilot whispered something else to Erio while observing Caro bend down to pick up her dragon companion. "I'm gonna make a guess here…"

"Hm?"

"The other thing you like about that girl… is it her ass? Because that's only an average looking ass to me. A+ at best."

Erio's eyebrow twitched slightly. "Excuse me?"

"Since you seem to dig her even when she's got no boobs, I'm thinking you're an Ass Man."

"I'm not…!" He had to tone his voice down to avoid drawing Caro's attention. "I'm not like that!"

"Being an Ass Man's nothing to be ashamed of. Come to think of it, you know that big ass guardian dragon on that Alzas world? The one that little pinky over there can summon?"

"Voltaire?"

The pilot nodded. "Yeah, that's it. Naturally, she's gotta ask him for help and stuff. I betcha Voltaire's like you. An Ass Man… or in this case, Ass Dragon. He probably gets a nice primetime view of that rump when he gets summoned and stuff, eh?"

It took all of Erio's willpower not to slug that other guy a new one.

* * *

The plan was now in motion.

Yuuno was now on his way back to Mid-Childa in their transport ship which departed for Mid-Childa fifteen minutes ago. With the space that he took up, there was only enough room to fit one more passenger. The two of them had argued back and forth on how the other should be the one to go back as well until their pilot mentioned that whatever option they chose, those dangerous mages would certainly blow their tops if they find out that their hostage has been saved and take new hostages which would be the mother daughter duo.

The choice was made. Both Erio and Caro would go up to the inn, posing as just a regular pair of teenagers who dropped by the planet to visit a friend. They would drop by, pretend to have a jolly old time and wait until Bureau soldiers land on the planet and back them up in the arrest of the Materials. Sneaking on the limiters to them would be straightforward with some application of disguise magic to make them look like super fancy gifts.

Nothing too complicated. Just a bit of deception and time killing until they had all the cards in their favour. Yes, this is a very good plan. Erio felt rather proud of himself for having come up with it.

"What are you smiling about?" asked Caro right beside him.

"Nothing!"

"Don't tell me that you found it amusing when Fried butted Mr. Scrya in the head?" pressed the small pink haired girl.

"Er… maybe a little?"

She glared at him for a bit before turning away. "Hmph!"

"What's gotten you worked up?" asked Erio in a weary tone.

"Oh, I don't know… maybe it's the fact that you found Mr. Scrya's accident so funny!"

"Well, I think it's a psychological reaction. You find it funny because you think 'thank goodness it didn't happen to me' or you might think people are not intelligent enough to avoid that problem, and thus laugh because they think they are far more intelligent and superior than the victim." He paused for a moment before putting up his arms in defense. "Not that I'm assuming that I'm more intelligent or superior than Yuuno or anything!"

There was no response from Caro, causing Erio to mentally groan. 'Great, now I'm getting the silent treatment!'

"KU!"

"Fried?" One glance showed him that the dragon was looking rather agitated along with his master. His eyes then zoomed over to the girl, who was focused on the surrounding red orbs of light.

"This is… Nanoha's…?"

"No, that's not right," muttered the redhead. The colour that she emitted in her magic was pink and not red. That meant this Wide Area Search spell was being run by someone else.

"Erio-kun… these orbs are…!"

He nodded before looking up at the sky which was growing darker as the sun set on the sleepy world. It took him a while to find what he was looking for but eventually, he managed to pick it out among the stars. "Caro… we better get ready."

"Eh?"

The young man's eyes remained fixed on the small speck of crimson light in the distance that seemed to be getting closer. "I think we're going to be having company drop in soon…"

"One of them?" asked Caro just to confirm the worst case scenario.

Erio nodded once. "Yeah."

"I guess that means the plan's pretty much out the window."

"And it was such a good plan too," muttered the young man with a small sigh before reaching for his wrist watch. "Strada, set up!"

"Kerykeion, set up!"

* * *

It had started out quietly enough.

After Material-S had enough playing and practicing with Material-L, she had tried getting in touch with Yuuno telepathically to confirm that he would be eating dinner with them. There had not been a response, which got the Starlight Destroyer rather concerned quickly and got her to do a bit of searching around the compound and the surrounding area. Material-L, from what she had last heard, had gone to wash her hands and planned on poking her head into the kitchen to get in a sneak taste test, which was unlikely considering how Megane was overseeing things.

With Seikou on the job, Yami figured that it would only be a matter of time until she found that peon. Honestly, what type of man was he? Making everyone worry like that… it's not very proper conduct at all for a gentleman of his stature.

Her thoughts were interrupted with a telepathic call from the Nanoha replica. _"Material-D, come in." _

"_Call me 'Your Majesty'! What is it?" _

"_I can't find any traces of Yuuno-san but I've detected some new arrivals who may be linked to his disappearance." _

"_Describe them for me." _

"_A tall young man with red hair, a short girl with pink hair and a dragon companion."_

That matched the description of two of the participants who were in that mock battle video against the Yagami family she watched earlier. Two people who had clearly identified themselves as Bureau officers by the way they laughed and talked casually about their work with Lutecia in that footage. 'So we walked into a trap,' growled Yami mentally.

The pendant form of Yersinia Kreuz glowed briefly as it communicated with its master. _But it hasn't been sprung yet. The tables can still be turned._

'Agreed.' Material-D turned back to her telepathic connection with Material-S. _"Those are Bureau officers so seize the two of them for questioning. If you are having difficulty obtaining information on my scholar's whereabouts, then secure them and wait for my arrival. I need to research a few methods on how to forcefully extract the information out of their minds." _

"_Roger that."_

In the meantime, while Yami looked through her Tome for the proper spell, she made a mental note to determine the depth of the younger Alpine's involvement in this little scheme.


	28. Bonding Moment of Mutual Understanding

When her search spells had detected that couple and their dragon, Seikou immediately knew that they had something to do with his disappearance.

His last known whereabouts, which had been confirmed by Megane earlier, was accompanying Sette to the location where her microchip had reacted. A quick telepathic call to her allowed Material-S to learn that a ship had briefly landed on the planet and Yuuno had went over to check if they needed assistance. That was the last that anyone had heard from him.

Considering the sudden appearance of the couple and their dragon just happened to coincide with Yuuno's disappearance, they already had a suspicious feel to them. Material-D's confirmation of the fact that they are Bureau officers simply sealed the deal.

The part of her that felt certain of their involvement wanted to go in at maximum power and take out those two with a full spread of shooting spells but she had to consider the fact that the evidence that implied their involvement in Yuuno's disappearance was circumstantial. She needed something that could prove beyond a reasonable doubt whether they were innocent or not and she couldn't let her judgment be influenced by what she was feeling. After all, she declared in front of Yuuno that she didn't want to lose control again.

The Nanoha replica pondered on what to do as her senses picked up Barrier Jacket activations coming from the young male and female. The urge to blast them all to oblivion started growing since considering how they transformed after being alerted to her presence, which meant that they had something to hide. Then again, she is in full battle gear and flying rather aggressively so perhaps they were responding to that?

Perhaps a different approach was needed. One that Yuuno would approve of. What would be an appropriate non-threatening gesture? Something that would let them know that she means no harm if they were honest with her…

'Ah, I got it.' Her mind was now made up as she made her landing. Aside from the change in attire, she noted that the young man now had a spear in his hands, complete with a cylinder revolver-type cartridge system beneath the blue head of the weapon. The girl didn't have any visible weapon but her gloves seemed to be sporting some rather unique properties if those pink crystals embedded on the material were any indication.

"Excuse me? Have you two by any chance seen a close friend of mine? He was last spotted around this area."

They seemed a bit startled on how she spoke to them so… politely and courteously. The pink haired girl was the first to recover, trying to mask her nervousness. "W-w-what does he look like?"

"He is a man in his mid-twenties with long blonde hair, glasses, green eyes and a very attractive face. He was dressed in a green dress shirt and trousers. If you happen to know anything about his whereabouts, I would be grateful if you could tell me," said Seikou as her hands went to the side of her dress to allow her to properly curtsy.

The gesture seemed to have some effect. For starters, the red haired young lad had a look of… disbelief for lack of a better word. It was as if any expectations he may have had about this encounter were completely blown away. While he stood there trying to figure out what to say, his female partner responded. "No, we haven't seen him."

"Really?" Material-S stood up and slowly approached the small dragon before reaching over to pluck a piece of blonde hair that had been tangled up in the gold piercing of his front horn. "Then what would you call this?"

"Uh… … a piece of tall grass?" answered the young man in a shaky tone.

The Starlight Destroyer softly exhaled before discarding the strand of hair. "If you had been honest with me in the first place and simply told me where my companion is located, I might have been able to overlook the fact that you two are members of that Bureau. But now we'll have to do this the hard way." The last sentenced was emphasized with her twirling Luciferion and pointing the head of her device at the two. "Where is Yuuno-san?"

Some fire had returned to the young man as he tightened his stance. "He's safe. And more importantly, out of your grasp!"

"Mr. Scrya wasn't supposed to be your companion! His place is with us at the Bureau! He's our comrade!" exclaimed the pink haired girl.

A subtle anger lit up in Seikou's blank blue eyes. "Do you really know him? Have you ever spent time with him? Or do you know him only as someone who may be important for others? Have you or any of your companions spent time with him? Do you know how he thinks? How he feels? What makes him angry? Sad? Happy? No, you don't. You only wish to keep him for what he is able to contribute to the Bureau's long term goals and endless, greedy ambitions. So spare me your lies."

"It's not a lie!" shouted the red haired young man in protest. "What would someone like you know about friendship? You're just a copy of Nanoha!"

"I am nothing like her. My designation is the Starlight Destroyer." As she said that, various shooting spell orbs flew out from Luciferion's head and circled around her body ready to be fired while floating energy daggers and swords were summoned from the magic circle that appeared underneath her feet. "Return my friend to me or start praying to whatever Gods you believe in."

* * *

It had taken a bit longer than expected for Lutecia to catch up on her other chores for the day since the arrival of their sudden guests had thrown off her planned timetable. And then there were the extra chores piled on top of everyone else such as Garyu having to clean the hot springs again, her mom having to cook a lot more for dinner and Lutecia having to mop over the hardwood flooring where Material-L just stomped on through on her way to the kitchen after her workout.

She figured she had some time to lie down in her bed for a few minutes before dinner. The latest whereabouts of her guests had just been fed to her through her insect summons so she did not need to worry too much about them. Right now, the Hayate lookalike had her nose in her book while the coffee table next to her seemed to be damaged, most likely from that woman losing her temper over something trivial.

The Fate lookalike spent her time hovering near the kitchen, drawn to the aroma of the food. Obviously, she wanted to get a taste test of the meal that would be served later but with Mother looking after things, all the blue haired woman could do was sit nearby and pout. As for that Nanoha lookalike, she went to go fetch their missing companions so that everyone can sit down together when dinner was finally served.

But even though she knew what they were all up to, she still had a bit of an uneasy feeling in her stomach. It was odd as they really didn't seem to be bad people but there was something about them that didn't settle too well with her. Perhaps her insects were picking up something very strange regarding the nature of their magic and were feeding back the info as best they could?

Just as she entered her room while pondering that question, she noticed a soft purple glow coming from inside her desk drawer. 'This is…?'

It only took her a few seconds to make her way there, open up the drawer and confirm her suspicions. The purple jewels from her Boost device were glowing strongly with an eerie light that spread out across the fingertip areas. And the only thing that could trigger such a reaction from Asclepius is sensing another mage use summoning magic in the vicinity.

'Someone's using summoning magic? Can it be…?' That uneasy feeling in her gut grew larger, especially when she looked outside her window and managed to catch glimpses of red light in the distance against the darkening sky. She wasn't sure what exactly was going on out there (and if it really was her friend Caro fighting on this world) but she had to find out and preferably without drawing the attention of those other lookalikes.

Lutecia took out her gloves and put them on before sensing that Garyu had slipped back into the device earlier, most likely to get a quick rest after cleaning the hot springs again. "Garyu, are you awake? I need you to look into something for me." She got an immediate response in the form of a light buzzing coming from her device and smiled. "Thank you. And be careful."

The young lady moved to a window and opened it, allowing the fresh air to caress her exposed skin. She took a moment to make her calculations to optimize the launch sequence. "Distance calculated. Wind factor compensation complete. All systems go and launch timing is at your discretion."

Another pause before the buzzing sound came again, signalling that he was ready. Once she took position near the window, she thrust out her left glove; with the crystal pointed at the direction where the red light was coming from. "Fly, Garyu!"

And with that, a burst of black light shot out from Asclepius and soared towards the source of the disturbance.

* * *

Everyone has at least one of those moments in their lifetime. Where the mouth runs faster than the mind and blurts out something insensitive or inappropriate. When the heat of the moment spurs a person's thought processes. Honestly, Erio couldn't even tell how those words came from him in the first place. He must have sounded like one of those asshole scientists who took him away from his parents.

So that put him in a bit of an awkward position of having to apologize to the criminal for that remark. Then again, considering how he and Caro were currently fighting for their lives, that apology would have to take a back seat in terms of priority.

His partner was working hard to maintain as many support enchantments as she could to improve their chances of making it through the Starlight Destroyer's barrage of projectiles in one piece. Not only did they seem to launch faster than Nanoha's spells, they also packed more punch. Just being skimmed by one orb decreased his Barrier Jacket's integrity by five percent so he could only imagine what being hit by a full barrage would do. Perhaps blow right through the Barrier Jacket and through a mage's personal defense field to cause serious and long lasting damage.

And another thing that made their opponent quite the dangerous mage was how quickly her projectiles would react to a change in their movements to avoid them. Obviously, this Material didn't remain stationery and kept moving herself in order to fire her spells from different angles and attack their blind spots.

In the case of Fried, his grown up form was too huge to try dodging so Caro focused on boosting his defenses and his endurance. So far, he was doing well to tank everything that had been thrown at him and protect his Master but Erio had a gut feeling that could change very quickly by the way the projectiles that targeted Fried started combining in different variations. He could see the cool, calculating look in that woman's eyes. She was testing which shots were more effective against Fried. It was only a matter of time until she found that optimal combination which is why they had to find an opening in her defense and punch through it with maximum power before she could do the same to them.

Then he saw it. In the form of a black light that solidified into a familiar figure and concealed itself in the replica's blind spot. And in that instant, he saw the path to victory. "Caro, back me up! Strada, let's do this!"

His device responded by loading a cartridge and changing forms. _**"Düsenform!"**_

"Boost Up: Acceleration!" Another support spell was tacked on to the young man as he activated the boosters on his device and went straight for the enemy. Even as the projectiles changed trajectory to intercept him, they couldn't land a hit on him thanks to his enhanced speed. As he closed in, the replica summoned a red Mid-Childan circle in front of her.

"Round Shield!"

The tip of Strada slammed heavily into it but she didn't show any signs of strain guarding against it. But what surprised her was the young man bringing up his right fist which was charged with electrical energy. He then threw the punch against the barrier with all his might. _"Shiden Issen!"_

"That's…!" The blow didn't break her shields but he did manage to force her flying back out of her previous position… and right where Garyu was waiting. The insect warrior brought out a blade from his forearm and moved quickly to close the gap…

*CLANG*

"… !"

Only to find his strike intercepted by another device wielded by a fully powered and pouting Material-L.

"Hey, what did you think you were doing? You were supposed to show me your moves, not Seikou-chan!"

"Material-L? What are you doing here?" Not that Material-S had any objections to her friend's sudden arrival.

Garyu took a brief moment to back off and reassess the situation while the Fate replica begun her long explanation. "Well, it all started when I wanted to go see what that Lulu girl was up to and I saw something super awesome through her door from the staircase! She was like 'launch timing at your discretion' and 'Fly, Garyu!' and I thought to myself, it was just like launching one of those giant robots! Seriously, any otaku would have lost it right there if they saw that in person. All that's needed to make it perfect is Seiji Mizushima to direct, Toshihiko Sahashi and Kenji Kawai to compose the launching background music, a few white doves to fly alongside the hero while soaring just over the clean sparkly ocean, and it's a guaranteed hit on Youtube or Nico Nico Douga, I'm telling you."

Even though at the moment they were enemies who opposed each other, in this one moment, this one singular and unique moment in the universe, all the other combatants made the same face, complete with twitching. It was a Bonding Moment of Mutual Understanding where each of them, from Fried to Garyu, from the Bureau mages to the Starlight Destroyer, shared the same pain of trying to figure out what the hell Material-L was blabbering on about.

"So I talk to Yami-chan in my noggin about how she launched that Garyu guy and Yami-chan asks me to follow him and bring him back for being a bad butler or something like that in exchange for her dessert. Isn't she nice like that? And it looks like I caught up in time, even when Mr. Kamen Rider here had a ten second head start!"

Garyu felt a sense of alarm wash over him. Even with the speed of his black light form, reaching the battlefield from the house took him about twenty seconds. And based on what the Fate replica said, she could cover the same distance in about half the time so that meant she was ridiculously fast. Then again, that Fate woman who visited the home some time back was just as fast while in those mock battles.

"I see. Go ahead and play with him for a bit. I have to deal with some naughty children here."

"You gonna need any help?"

Material-S thought about it for a brief moment. Considering Material-L's usual behaviour, it was likely she would immediately try to kill those two if she learned that they were responsible for Yuuno's disappearance. And since Material-D needed them alive for interrogation purposes, the only course of action would be to keep the Lightning Assailant in the dark for now. "No, I will be fine."

Rai shrugged. "Alrighty then but don't take too long! It's getting dangerously close to dinner time and that giant misshaped chicken is looking kinda tasty right now."

"What giant chicken?" Caro then noticed that those eerie red eyes of that Fate replica looking directly at Friedrich and put two and two together, much to her discomfort. "You are not eating Fried! He's a dragon!"

"So… you're saying that dragons don't taste like chicken? I mean, if he sorta looks like a chicken, then he's gotta taste like a chicken too, right?"

"You can't just have Fried for dinner!"

Material-L huffed in annoyance. "Why not? All I gotta do is kill him, take out the guts, clean off the scales so that he'll be easier to chew, cut off those wings, and grill it over a fire with a dash of salt and pepper and BOOM! Instant five star dinner plate!"

"But that would ruin your appetite for dinner if you ate all of it," noted Material-S.

"Hm… you have a point…"

'She's insane.' There was no doubt in Erio's mind that his guardian's doppelganger was missing several marbles. He wagered that it would also make her a far more dangerous enemy to fight. _"Sorry, Garyu… but can I count on you to keep that Fate-san copy occupied while Caro and I try to stop the other enemy?"_

The insect warrior nodded although he didn't look too happy about it. Not that Erio could blame him. Considering how easily he had been stopped earlier by that girl, the main question became how much time would pass until she got bored of him and actually dragged him back to the Alpines, all beaten up.

"_Thanks."_ He just hoped that he and Caro would have some better luck this time around considering how much they stayed on the defensive in the last fight. So far, the only advantage they had was numbers but that didn't count for much with the power that their enemy had at her disposal.

Meanwhile, Material-L finally came to a decision. "You know what? I'll cook that guy up anyway! He looks like a good source of protein!"

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Honestly, Material-S had no clue on the effects of consuming dragon meat. What if it made her ill?

"I won't be eating all of him, Seikou-chan! Kero-chan will eat the rest!" On cue, the tattoo on her shoulder glowed and a burst of light flew out from it, revealing the gigantic three-headed hound on the ground who gave a gigantic howl to the skies.

'So much for our numbers advantage!' This was turning out to be a lousy day.

"Can he fly?" asked Material-S quietly, pondering whether he would be at a disadvantage.

"Nope but he can jump good! Go on, Kero-chan! There's your dinner!"

As Cerberus hurled himself towards Friedrich, Erio knew that if there was ever a time to curse his luck, this would be it.


	29. Lightning Round

"Ah, so that's where you are!"

"What is it that you want?" asked Material-D who didn't even remove her eyes from her tome.

"I was wondering if you wanted to play a game." A quick glance from the Hayate replica allowed her to see that Lutecia had entered the library and was carrying a chessboard and a small box on top of it. "Do you know chess?"

The replica raised an eyebrow. "You… want to play me at chess?"

"Sure… I mean, dinner's still not quite ready yet and I wouldn't mind matching wits with you!"

"Hmph… you're either brave or foolish if you think you could match wits with me." After some brief thought, she set her book aside. "Very well. Try and entertain me."

Lutecia merely smiled as she put the board down and set up the pieces. "You prefer white or black?"

"You can have the first turn."

"Ah, okay… I read a lot of chess books and I don't get a chance to put what I read into action often so I was hoping for a good opponent." While Lutecia pondered her first move, a part of her hoped that the other woman didn't realize her true purpose behind setting up this game.

By keeping Yami's mind occupied, the chances that she would pick up on the battle unfolding far away from the compound would be lower. And as long as she remained in the dark about that, she wouldn't be able to head out and help her friends. That was definitely a plus in Lutecia's books. After all, a fight this close would absolutely ruin her precious resort, and she just couldn't have that.

"So tell me… who are these companions with you in that picture?" A light flex of her fingers allowed Yami to use telekinesis and summon a picture that had sat on top of the shelf behind Lutecia. The photo had Lutecia sitting with a fairly tall teenaged boy and a far shorter pink-haired girl. "What is your relationship with them?"

"Huh?" Lutecia was caught off guard by that question. Did Material-D just ask about her relationship with Erio and Caro? "We're just…"

Honestly, considering the lengths they went to help her when she still worked with the Doctor, the term friends probably wasn't enough to define what they meant to her. So where would they be?

"Just… what? Friends? Lovers? Or do you have some other bizarre relationship like that young man being some sort of pimp?"

"BWAH! P-pimp…?" Lutecia started twitching at the thought of Erio pimping her out. Although if he were to wear a fedora hat and some fine jewelry while she wore her new barrier jacket...

*Flash*

"Now then! Did you do a good job today?" asked Erio who was wearing a purple suit and a fedora hat. And of course, lots of fabulous looking jewelry that made Raising Heart look like an old busted stone.

"Yep yep-OOH!" Lutecia felt that slap on her rear hard as she was in her new barrier jacket, which, for some odd reason was looking a bit more brazen than usual. She grinned at him as she reached into her bosom to flash him the earnings for the day. "Got you lots of cash."

"Good girl! What about you…?" He looked at Caro, who was pouting. And he already knew the outcome of her efforts.

"I'm sorry! I'm just so short and flat and no one seems to see me as anything more than jailbait."

"Come on!" Lutecia got behind Caro and hugged the midget. "It's not her fault. I'll just work extra hard and pick up the slack."

"Good, now, you better show your appreciation for her hard work," said the redhead as he poked Caro in the belly with Strada in pimp cane mode.

Caro nodded and turned around to try and kiss Lutecia on the lips. She ended up kissing the girl's neck.

"And you better make it a good show!"

*Flash*

Wait a second… that's not right. If anything, she should be the one doing the teasing and being in control. Hm, that would make for an amusing birthday present. She activates her new barrier jacket while forcing him in that getup. Then Garyu can get some pictures and everyone would have a laugh…

That would be fun. And seeing him all flustered would be so hot… hehehehehe…

"I would appreciate it if you could stop thinking of whatever perverted fantasy you're having and answer the question. Otherwise, I'm going to blow a wall apart."

"Don't you dare!" Lutecia snapped back to reality as she stood straight up, her eyes wide.

"If you are to be a good servant, you should learn to answer me more promptly," replied Material-D in a simple tone.

The younger Alpine rubbed her head for a moment while trying to get her thoughts together. "So, what did you want to know again? Something about my relationship with…?"

"These two. You were in this picture, so I was wondering how you know them."

Lutecia took a breath and sat down across from Yami. "Sorry, I heard you wrong. Anyway," she touched the white Pawn in front of her king, "I believe white goes first." She moved it forward two spaces.

The Hayate replica nodded and moved her own pawn forward one spot. "Now, about these two?"

Lutecia moved the King's Bishop three spots. "Well, they're my best friends."

"Best friends, huh?" She paused for a moment before moving the Queen's Rook's Pawn forward one spot.

"Yes." Lutecia nodded as she moved her King's Knight up two spaces and left one. "They saved me while their adopted mother saved mine."

Material-D moved the Queen's Pawn up one spot. "I see. It sounds like you're close to them."

Another move with the Knight. "Yes."

"So, would it be safe to say that you would do anything for them?"

"Yeah, I guess I would do anything for them," said the young lady with a small smile.

"Even if it took you away from your mother? And caused you harm?"

"It would not be the first time." She looked up and felt a chill go through her body as those eerie green eyes were fixed directly at her.

"Even if it meant putting yourself in danger by angering me?"

Hold on a second… what was with this change in atmosphere? "Ah... I..."

"Your friends are here on this planet and based on what has been reported to me, they are directly involved in the kidnapping of one of my subjects." Those green eyes narrowed dangerously. "But you already knew all of that, didn't you?"

Well, Lutecia did suspect that the two were on planet when she felt her device react to a Summon spell but kidnapping Yuuno? That was new to her although at least he's been relocated to somewhere that's safer. But that didn't help now since at the moment, she had to deal with a rather upset Material-D. "Now hold on a sec…"

"_Lähmung."_

The quick spell from the Lord of Darkness went off without a hitch as the Insect Summoner found that most of her lower body no longer responded to her. "W-what the…?"

"Now then… you're going to tell me everything from the beginning. Otherwise, I'll introduce you to some of my own summons." Yami held up a hand and brought forth some sort of… slug for lack of a better term but with tendrils and two antennae at its head. "And I assure you that being bonded to a Stinging Licid is very uncomfortable."

Lutecia winced and only had one thought go through her head.

'This is the worst!'

* * *

"Are you done already? Come on, your character design was inspired from over thirty years of Kamen Rider! Show me something awesome!"

Things have obviously not been going well for Garyu. He was painfully aware of the difference in ability between himself and his opponent. No matter how fast he moved, Material-L's sheer speed allowed her to stay away from the sharp blades on his arms.

And speaking of that blue haired nut case, she merely put away her device, which attached itself automatically to her cloaked back, allowing her to have both hands free. "How about this? We'll take the Odin approach. We'll set a time limit of say… five minutes. During that time, I won't attack, block or even move from here. Cut me anywhere you want and don't hold back."

"… …" Was she serious?

"Maybe you'll roll some natural twenties and land a critical blow that'll break my barrier jacket and deplete all of my hit points in one shot!" chirped Rai cheerfully. "And of course, if you fail to complete the challenge that means you'll be eating my hidden max non life-threatening super technique!"

"**No instant death move? How generous of you,"** muttered Vulnificus in a flat tone.

"Hehehehe! I just ooze generosity, don't I?" She brought up her hand and gestured at the insect warrior. "Don't be shy! Give it all you got! Just like Pinkie and the Appetizer over there against Kero-chan!"

And speaking of the three headed dog, it was up against Friedrich several metres away. Now one would think that because the Dragon had air superiority, it would have a supreme advantage but there was just one problem with that. Localized tornadoes kept appearing out of nowhere and kept Fried from getting too far away out of the dog's reach. And also there was the fact that once in a while, she would hear a whisper in the wind and something would cause the enhancement spells she cast on Fried to vanish.

She knew the weather patterns of Carnaaji didn't create the conditions for tornadoes to form naturally so that meant there was someone actively using magic to create them while also blowing away the status buffs. The weird thing is that Caro could clearly see the Fate-san copy not doing anything that indicated any sort of spell casting. And Erio was keeping the Nanoha copy's attention on him. 'So how are they doing this? Is there something I'm missing? Are they using invisible magic circles?'

No time to think about that now. She needed to focus on the enemy who was moving aggressively. "Fried, prepare to use Blast Rain!"

But just as she cast the boost spell on her Dragon, she heard that whisper again. This time, she traced the spell back to its possible source and was shocked to find that it most likely came from the three headed dog itself. "It was you?"

At once, all three heads of Cerberus smiled nastily, showing rows of sharp teeth as if confirming her suspicions.

"You're the one who cast…?" It was unbelievable. How could a summon be able to use such advanced magic?

"_DISPEL? YES, IT REALLY IS A HANDY SPELL JUST LIKE TORNADO. AND HERE'S ANOTHER NIFTY ONE THAT I HAVE FOR THAT DRAGON OF YOURS."_ She barely had time to register the animalistic sounding telepathic voice in her head when it spoke again, this time to cast a new spell. _"BLIND."_

"KUUUUUUUU!" Fried started flailing wildly as he lost his sense of sight, forcing his mistress to hang on tight for dear life.

"Fried, get a grip!" She needed to concentrate and cast her own Dispel to blow away the negative status effect on her dragon but Cerberus wasn't having any of that as it pounced, moving much faster than before. "Wheel Protection!"

While the whirlpool of mana started forming, Caro thought of her next move. Should she try an Alchemic Chain to bind the hound? Or perhaps use Wing Shooter to lay down cover fire?

"_GATES OF HADES!"_

Or perhaps she should just pray that her defensive spell would be able to repel the shots of flame that were just fired by each head at such a close distance.

* * *

Erio's eyes widened as he heard the explosion coming from his partner's last known location with her dragon. "Caro!"

"You should worry more about yourself, young man," said Material-S.

"Che…!" Erio figured that going against Nanoha solo was suicide normally. As much as he hated to admit it, both Subaru and Vivio were stronger than he was and neither of them could beat his teacher four years ago. Hell, Signum was at least two ranks higher than he was magically and the best she could do was draw against Nanoha.

This version of Nanoha had never seen him fight so that meant she wouldn't know his style inside and out. However, the opposite was more or less true. Even if she had the same appearance and equipment set as the regular Nanoha, he had experienced this woman's combat style first hand and it was rather different from his teacher's to a degree.

He was going to have to take more chances if he wanted to get victory. Earlier, he and Caro were able to get some close hand knowledge about her style and this was helping him to form a plan. Since she used a Mid-Childan circle that meant that his opponent would prefer to fight at a distance and would not be as skilled in close-range combat. All he would have to do is get a good shot in before she could react. "Strada!"

**"Sonic Move."**

He felt the world around him shrink and compress as movements around him slowed down. One shot, that's all he would need. A clean blow with Strada and she would be down for the count. Then he could help Garyu deal with Material-L and...

Erio's eyes widened as he saw his spear slam into a barrier. "What?" True, he should have expected her to be able to create one, but to do it with such little warning? Her reaction time was higher than anticipated.

Seikou narrowed her eyes and grabbed Strada by its blade. "A sneak attack, huh?" She squeezed the blade until her hand started to bleed and started to slowly pull it down and to the side. "Despite your preference for the Belkan style, you are no knight."

Swinging her device in a wide arc, she let out a chain of Pyro Shooters that floated in mid air for a moment before shooting up, spinning around each other and rushing down towards the red head.

_"Shinden Issen!"_ Seikou's eyes widened as the tip of the spear started to crackle with power. Quickly letting go, she frowned as Erio back flipped away from her Pyro Shooters at the last moment, causing them to crash into the ground harmlessly and kick up dust which concealed him from view. Without hesitation, she snapped her arm forward and summoned a wave of air to clear the dust which revealed that he was nowhere in sight.

"Where…?" Her senses felt a magical presence coming from above and she looked up to see Erio descending down, his blade crackling with lightning. "That move..."

"Thunder... Rage!" Erio cried out, slamming Strada down at Seikou, who grunted as the attack struck her barrier.

Grunting, Seikou grit her teeth as she slid back from Erio's attack. She snapped an open palm out at her opponent before calling out "Flame Smash". The result was a quick burst of flame which erupted from her hands that sailed towards the enemy and slammed into a barrier that he created.

'Damn.' He knew she was strong, likely stronger than himself, but she was taking his best attacks so easily and returning them with interest. Gripping Strada, his whole body started to glow as he prepared to try a new move out. It wasn't one that he had worked out fully, but he knew that if he failed to land it, he was going to not only be in a world of hurt, but likely dead.

As for Material-S, she wasn't about to let him try anything new. Without wasting time, she started summoning a new barrage of projectiles. "Pyro…"

"Divine..." It was all he said as he suddenly disappeared in a flash of yellow light, causing the Nanoha replica to stop preparing her attack spell and shift into a defensive position.

'What? Where did he go? Would he try an overhead strike again? Or come from below?' No, the last option wasn't likely as she couldn't feel any vibrations with her feet. The Starlight Destroyer floated up as she expanded her field of vision, scanning the battlefield carefully with those odd blue eyes of hers. 'Did he run away?'

"… Smasher!" Her only warning came from Erio's voice calling out the name of the attack behind her in order to complete his unique spell. Turning, she only caught a glimpse of a yellow flash before a form slammed into her barrier, shattering it and smashing her into the ground so fast that she created a crater ten meters wide and three meters deep.

Erio stopped glowing and landed on the edge of the crater, panting hard and grimacing. His hands were hurting, his arms were raw and the rest of his body felt like that one time he had just hit a stone, a tree and a park bench after Nove kicked him in the gut as hard as she could in sparring. The tip of Strada's staff was in the ground to support his weight. "Note to self, remember to thank Nove for helping me with this move."

Even if his body felt like crap for accelerating far beyond his limits, at least he managed to beat the Material copy of Nanoha. After all, he was certain that even the original Nanoha wouldn't be able to get back up for a while after a Divine Smasher. But much to his shock, he saw Material-S not only rise up from the ground but she strolled over to him without so much as a limp or even an expression of pain on her face. 'How is this possible? What-'

"What kind of monster am I facing? That's what's going on in your head, isn't it?"

'She can read minds too?' He did notice something that caught him off guard and that was a hint of melancholy on Seikou's face.

"I've seen and heard it many times before. You fear me, because of how strong I am." Luciferion shifted forms before Material-S pointed the tip of her transformed device at the young man. "Blast... Fire."

Erio grit his teeth and summoned whatever energy reserves he had to create a barrier but in his weakened state, his barrier wouldn't be as strong. As expected, it shattered and the blast consumed him, sending him flying backwards before he landed hard on the ground painfully.

"I'm... alive?" His skin felt like he had just been dipped into a bath that had been heated by Signum.

"You'll live," said the Nanoha replica as she walked up to him and stood above him, placing one foot on his chest to ensure that he wouldn't be doing anything foolish. "I have no reason to kill you, not yet."

"You..."

"Monster? Yes, I know. I am nothing more than a cruel monster that kills those in her way. Or, perhaps I am nothing more than a mere clone of someone you know?"

Erio winced at his own words being thrown back at him. "Listen, about..." He groaned in pain as she put pressure on his chest.

"I suppose that to you, I am nothing more than a worthless copy of the original. Is that right?"

"That... I shouldn't have said that!"

"No, you shouldn't have," replied Material-S in a frosty tone. "Then again, what else should I expect from you as a Bureau agent? You kidnapped my precious companion, lied right in my face and insulted me just before coming at me with killing intent. Tell me; is this the standard modus operandi employed by all members of your organization?"

"We do what must be done to bring people to justice," answered the young man.

"Most likely a flawed and corrupt justice, no doubt." The Starlight Destroyer paused for a moment as she felt a sense of discomfort come from the area where he had attacked before with that Divine Smasher. "You managed to injure me."

"And you let me recover," muttered Erio.

**"Sonic Move."**

Seikou blinked as Erio disappeared from under her foot only to reappear just a few feet away from her. He seemed to have recovered some of his energy back as his breathing wasn't as hard as before. "Do you wish for me to harm you some more? What about that pink haired girl? Or the young girl that lives here? Do you not care how they would feel if you were hurt? Are you not friends?"

Erio twitched and gripped Strada tightly. "My relationship with Caro and Lutecia is none of your business!"

"How would you feel if I took one of them away from you?" Material-S glanced at Fried, who was now being pinned down by the flames coming from Cerberus in order to protect his summoner. "What if something unfortunate happened to her?"

"You…!" There was a flash of anger on Erio's face which was the reaction that she had expected.

"Perhaps I will take her from you like you took Yuuno-san from me."

"Don't you dare!" Erio yelled as he rushed forward, swinging Strada as his Sonic Move had activated unconsciously. He gasped as his spear struck nothing but air. "What?"

"You aren't the only one who can move fast," whispered Seikou into his ear from behind. The moment he turned around, all he could see was a large red orb, glowing pink with magical power that rapidly approached his skull. He reacted by raising his device to deflect the blow but that gave his opponent another opening. Thanks to her quick movements, she thrust the tip of her device into his solar plexus and had it charge up one last spell.

"Yuuno-san, Material-L, Material-D and even Sette... the four of them are not for you to take from me," muttered the Starlight Destroyer as Luciferion did the rest.

"**Blast Fire."**


	30. The Golden Rule

Chrono took another glance at the digital clock on his desk. It was almost noon, Mid-Childan time. It would be at least another hour and a half before the enforcements reached the Alpine household on Carnaaji.

Honestly, the ideal outcome would have been to get Yuuno and the Alpines out and have everyone back on the home world so that he could focus all of his attention on the Materials. Of course, getting the ideal result from a scenario that developed so rapidly wasn't something that happened often.

Right now, the last report he received from the shuttle pilot that had been escorting Erio and Caro was that he was on his way back to Mid-Childa. The pilot also explained what he knew about the rough plan that the two had come up with on the spot in order to protect the Alpines and buy as much time as possible for the backup to arrive on the planet.

The problem with that plan was that it depended on how well of a charade that they can put up. If the Materials got wind of their occupations that meant that those two would be at a disadvantage if forced into battle. They wouldn't even be able to get a lot of assistance from Lutecia. Even with Hayate's authorization, the limiter on the Insect Summoner has to be removed with the proper equipment which Erio and Caro didn't have on them.

So they would have to count on luck in order to achieve their goal of getting everyone out safely. And once they had their people back, his forces would need to confront the Materials. The current plan was to engage in a battle of attrition while preparing their portable AMF generators which will need time to get up and running. Although considering the power levels of their enemies, the feasibility and effectiveness of this plan was up for debate.

Honestly, this type of plan offended Chrono's pride as a military strategist but it was the best he could come up. He probably could have gotten Nanoha, Fate and Hayate to join the operation as well but with the travel time in between the worlds, he would prefer it if they stayed on Mid as a line of defense. In the meantime, Erio and Caro would be on their own until those enforcements get to the planet.

'They'll be fine,' thought the young man to himself. 'They're both smart mages and they've gone through the Strikers program. They should be able to handle themselves.'

* * *

"Not bad," said Material-L with a grin as Garyuu smashed into her barrier jacket and sent her sliding back half a meter with the marks easily visible on the dirty ground. "On a scale of ten, I give that one a three."

**"I would have given it a two."**

"Nah. He made me slide back, and I did feel that blow," chirped the Fate replica in response to the remark made by Vulnificus. "So, come on! I'm being as generous as possible and I'm staying on the ground so you can have your air superiority! What more do you want?"

Garyuu just stared at his opponent, his eyes barely concealing his shock. Even if she was a clone of Testarossa, she was a lot tougher than the blonde was. The last time he had sparred with Fate, his blows at least were enough to make the blonde woman stagger a few times. Granted, she had been under a limiter and he wasn't fighting for his life back then but it still was galling to see this insane, blue-haired version of Fate take his best attacks and not even get scratched by them.

*BOOM*

"Ara… there goes that guy with the lance. Seikou's done already, eh?"

He had no time to lose. Erio's already down and at this rate, they would take out Caro and come back to the resort to cause trouble for Lutecia and Megane. Mustering up what reserves of strength he had left, Garyuu charged again…

**"Time's up."**

… only to find his attacking arm missing the Lightning Assailant as she moved out of the way.

"Already? Well, guess that's that then. Thank you for playing, contestant! Although you won't get a chance to see my super ultimate technique, I'm giving you a perfectly awesome consolation beat down just for trying your best earlier!"

Garyuu took a step back and prepared himself for whatever the Material had up her sleeve. He knew a lot of different fighting styles, having observed plenty in his life, so, he thought he was prepared for anything.

He was wrong.

Rai jumped forward, her fists up near her head with her palms facing him. "MANTIS BOXING STYLE!"

The next thing Garyuu knew, he was stumbling backwards from the blow to the head he took. He didn't understand it. She just took a pose and appeared to float towards him… and then BAM! He got hit by a blow that appeared out of nowhere.

"SERPENT POUNCE TECHNIQUE!"

Garyuu shook his head and looked at Rai as she was jumping at him, again, this time holding one of her arms like it was a coiled up snake, before striking and hitting him in the chest and spinning him around.

"FLOAT LIKE LOTUS BLOSSOM!"

"… … ?!"

He could see Material-L in a rather... unusual stance as she floated into the air, with her hands and feet pressed together, her hands above her body and her feet below her body. He nearly groaned as she seemed to bounce off of his head.

"STING LIKE SCORPION!"

Garyuu swore that if he survived this, he was going to find a scorpion and throw it into the air just to see if Rai's impersonation of a flying scorpion was correct. The last blow forced him to the ground and just as he tried to catch his breath, he looked up to see the blue haired nutcase standing on one foot, her other foot extended out at him.

"Flamingo Stance." As usual, she had that grin on her face which caused him to take a weary step back in order to try and figure out just what type of fighting style she was using. Not only was she quite insane and fast, but she had strong hand-to-hand combat skills. While Fate was heavily reliant on Bardiche to deal damage, Material-L could dish it out with or without her device.

**"Are you done playing with him?"**

"Hmm..." Rai took a more neutral stance and turned around while scratching the back of her head. "I think so, but you know it's just not really the same. I feel like I'm missing something."

Garyuu saw his moment. She was completely defenseless with her back turned. Quickly extending his blade, he rushed forward, aiming at her neck. He wasn't going to kill her, but if he could just get the tip of his blade against her neck, he could at least get her to surrender.

But the next thing he knew, his hand was grabbed and he saw Rai looking at him while grinning. "You fell for it! You... are so PREDICTABLE!" She turned around and yanked his arm, forcing his momentum forward so that his jaw would meet her open palm and send him flying backwards. The insect summon winced in pain as he landed flat on his back on the hard ground.

"Hey! Come on, come on! I'm not done yet!" Just as he got up while shaking off his grogginess, he saw Material-L vanish from his vision.

"We're not finished yet." If Garyuu could have made facial expressions, he would have had a very surprised one on his face upon hearing Rai's voice coming inches away from his ear. He braced himself as she drove a fist into his back, between his shoulders, sending him upwards at an angle.

"Air combo launcher!" exclaimed the Fate replica as she materialized in front of him again and battered him for a bit before wrapping up with an uppercut right to his body. "Combo finish with Shoryuken! And finally…!"

She appeared behind Garyuu at the top of his ascent before grabbing both his arms with hers and wrapping her legs around his. "Let's see if all bugs go splat equally! QUEEN DOME BUSTER!"

Garyuu was only aware that at the moment, she was in the middle of some finishing move as she bent him over so that they both were upside down in the air and directing the both of them towards the ground. No matter how hard he struggled, her strength kept him from budging.

"This might hurt a little."

"**Well, duh,"** replied Vulnificus sarcastically just as they crashed into the ground a moment later. Garyuu was out cold while Material-L still felt fresh. She dusted her hands off just as she looked down at the unconscious insect warrior.

"That was fun. We should do it again!"

**"That's it?"**

"Well, yeah. Did you expect me to turn him into hamburger? And speaking of burgers, we need to go on a quest to burn every White Castle to the ground!"

Had Vulnificus been an organic sentient life form, he probably would have rubbed his head in order to fight off the incoming migraine. **"...Why?"**

"Too many onions on their burgers. You do NOT put that many onions on the burgers! It takes away from the flavor of the meat!" huffed Material-L as she slung Garyuu's body over her shoulder.

Deciding not to bother asking about it, the device switched topics to something else that was of more importance. **"I wonder how the dog is doing."**

And as if on cue, a giant body slammed on the ground just a few feet behind the replica. She turned around to see her dog summon, with several burn marks on his body and the right and left heads each having their cheeks bulged as if holding something. "So, had fun?"

The only response that came from the dog was silence as the two heads on the side spat out what they were carrying. One head spat out a battered up small white Dragon that was barely breathing; its eyes were glazed over slightly. The other head spat out the pink haired girl, whose dress was heavily damaged with most of the fabric either burned or torn off. She was bleeding through various cuts on her head, arms, legs and body but even with her injuries, the look in her eyes still showed she had some fight left in her. In fact, she was trying to push herself up to her knees so that she could be ready for whatever Cerberus and Material-L threw at her and Fried.

"You didn't eat them? Did you lose your appetite?"

"YOUR SISTER ASKED ME TO LEAVE THEM ALIVE."

"Must have been Seikou-chan then." The Fate replica saw some of the battle damage that had been inflicted on the dog. "They nicked you a few times?"

The middle head merely glanced down below at the blue haired mage. "THEY FOUGHT WELL. THAT IS ALL."

"Hehehe… maybe if Pinky had an impossibly cool looking yet very impractical sword, she might have won then." Rai grinned and prepared to head off. "Kero-chan, keep an eye on them while I go check on Seikou-chan! We're probably gonna head back for dinner soon! I can just taste that chicken now…!"

* * *

'Let's see… the soup's staying warm on the stove, the salad's been tossed and the roast potatoes are ready…' Megane paused for a moment and took a quick peek inside the oven which showed her that the chicken meat was turning a nice golden brown. 'Chicken's baking nicely. And the dessert is on standby to be served later at the end of the meal.'

She felt proud of herself for putting together a sizable, nutritious and delicious meal to feed seven people on such short notice. Since things were coming along nicely, she figured that it would be time to call her daughter and have her escort any guests in the compound to the dining room table. As for Sette and Yuuno, Megane figured that they would be aware of the time and would make their way back accordingly.

"_Lutecia, can you get everyone together for dinner?"_

There was no immediate response to the telepathic call. At the same time, she felt a slight magical surge coming from the other end of the household which prompted her to start worrying. She wanted to go check but that would mean leaving dinner unguarded and considering how Material-L had been lurking around the kitchen earlier…

No, she shouldn't have to worry herself about that blue haired woman. After all, that Hayate lookalike was still around to keep the Fate replica from ruining dinner for everyone. With that in mind, Megane set aside the cooking utensils and moved towards where she sensed that surge of magical energy. 'Could it have come from the training arena?'

Before she could think about it further, she felt another magical energy surge. And this time, she was able to identify that it was coming from the interior of the library. Moving quickly, she got to the doors and just as she opened them, a huge gust of wind forced her to shield her eyes. A moment later, the scene was calm again with the only traces of activity being the window that had been forced open, a few black feathers floating down towards the table and a purple light moving further away from the compound.

She wondered what had happened but that was put on hold as she spotted her daughter's body sprawled out on the floor. "Lutecia? Answer me!"

"M-mom?"

Hearing her daughter's voice helped Megane calm down a little. "Are you alright? What happened? Did she hurt you?"

"No, she was… asking me questions and…" Lutecia gasped once. "Erio and Caro! They're in trouble!"

"What do you mean?"

"They're here on the planet! And apparently they rescued Yuuno but now those crazy women are going to kill them! We have to help them!" The insect summoner tried to get up but her legs weren't being responsive. "Dammit!"

A quick examination by Megane revealed what was behind her daughter's condition. "A paralysis spell?"

"As if something like that's gonna stop me…!" growled the younger girl as she forced mana to her legs and slowly got up with her own power. However, it only lasted for a brief moment and her lower body locked up again, forcing Megane to catch her. "This spell is so annoying! It's disrupting the nerves that connect to my Linker Core!"

"Lutecia, you need to take it easy. I know that you want to go out and help but you're not in any condition to do anything of that sort," said the older Alpine gently.

"Then who's going to save…?" Lutecia trailed off as she noticed her mother's facial expression and put it together. "Wait a second… you're going to…?"

"I know a thing or two about dealing with rogues so just leave it to me, dear. I'll need to borrow Asclepius though since I don't have any other device that I can use." Megane paused upon noticing the way her daughter was staring at her. "Oh, don't give me that look. I know I'm a few years out of practice but once I start working with Asclepius, it'll probably come back to me!"

"Mom… if you didn't want me to worry, you should have left out the word 'probably'."

* * *

When Erio came to, he found himself restricted in a binding spell of sorts. A quick glance showed that Caro, Garyu and Fried were also in the same predicament and placed right next to him so that meant at the moment; they were at the mercy of these Materials. His device along with Caro's had been taken away but the good news was that they hadn't been destroyed yet.

As for what their captors were doing right now, he saw that the Nanoha replica was simply standing by, as if waiting for something. The dog summon was nowhere to be seen. He had probably been dismissed so that he could recover energy. And as for the Fate replica, she sat there only a few metres away and stared at them with those red eyes. The way she stared at them with those psychotic and hungry red eyes reminded him of a predator eyeing their prey. He could feel the pressure of the atmosphere smothering him, all thanks to her presence.

"So… is there any particular way you want me to carve you up once Yami-chan's done with you?"

He couldn't tell which was creepier: the fact that she asked him something like that so casually or the fact that if she just changed her voice by a few octaves, she would sound exactly like Fate.

"Cuz I was thinking of starting with the right arm. Then the right leg would be next. It would be like what Zombie Giant Man did to Black Panther except the meat will be fed to Kero-chan!"

Material-S stayed quiet, ready to act in case Material-L did actually attempt to cut their prisoners into sardine bits before they were interrogated. The Fate replica had been in a rather foul mood when she had been told about Yuuno's disappearance and the pair's involvement in it. Seikou did make it clear that throwing a temper tantrum to wreck the planet would be unproductive and that they needed those mages alive so Yami could extract the information from them.

So Rai had to stay her hand for now and think of other things such as what she could do to these prisoners once Material-D had gotten what she needed from them. "Maybe I should go an original route. Cut off a little piggy? Or maybe I should slowly grind off the part that Pinky likes the most?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Erio in a weary tone.

The Lightning Assailant rolled her eyes. "Don't play dumb! I'm talking about down there!" In a flash, the axe head of Vulnificus was pointing right to the area between the young man's legs which got a rather strong reaction from the device.

"**Don't point me there!"**

She brought back her weapon to speak to it directly. "What's wrong?"

"**I have no interest in making extended contact with the male reproductive organ!"**

"Are you worried that it'll be a gay thing? That's a little silly but if you're that worried, I bet that the Golden Rule would apply here!" chirped Material-L.

"… … **Golden Rule?"**

And once again, those vocals of hers came to life with a song. "It's OK when it's in a three-way! It's not gay when it's in a three-way! With a honey in the middle, there's some leeway! The area's grey in a one-two-three way!"

"… **I don't think I want to know why you're singing about threesomes."**

Before the wielder of Vulnificus had a chance to reply, the air shifted to signal the arrival of the third replica, Material-D. She landed gracefully on the ground, right next to Material-L. "Ah, there you are, Yami-chan! If you had taken any longer, I probably would have flown back and brought you here!"

"Thanks but no thanks," retorted Yami before focusing in on the prisoners. "Now then…"

She didn't get much further as Erio stood up to his full height and put himself between the Materials and his companions. "Are you the leader?"

"Your head is too high," growled the Hayate replica as Yersinia Kreuz prepared a spell. "On your knees, mongrel!"

"_**Seelenfeuer."**_

It only took a second for the effect to kick in and for Erio to go down on his knees as his strength left him. At the same time, he could feel a burning sensation from his Linker Core which caused him to let out a painful cry. "Graaaaahhh!"

And that was enough to wake Caro from the unconscious state she had been in since Cerberus overpowered her and Fried. "… Erio-kun!"

Yami snapped her fingers to release the spell's effect and let the young man catch his breath. "So the both of you are now awake? That's perfect. Now we can have a proper conversation about where you have hidden our companion."


End file.
